US embassy cable - 04AMMAN6638

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 006638 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/08/2014 
TAGS: ASEC, PTER, JO, IQ 
SUBJECT: JORDANIAN HOSTAGE IN IRAQ RELEASED AFTER FAMILY 
PAYS RANSOM 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 6574 
     B. AMMAN 6507 
     C. AMMAN 6456 
     D. AMMAN 6370 
 
Classified By: CDA David Hale for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d) 
 
1.  (C)  Summary:  A Jordanian businessman abducted in Iraq 
has returned to Jordan after his family paid a $100,000 
ransom.  The GOJ confirms it is still working "behind the 
scenes" -- in part through the mediation of an Iraqi tribal 
leader -- to secure the release of two others kidnapped on 
July 26.  At the same time, an MFA official insists that the 
government did not make concessions to win the release of 
four hostages kidnapped in Fallujah.  However, the GOJ's 
handling of this crisis -- including its lack of a strong 
public stand against the kidnappers from the beginning -- 
bodes ill for the safety of Jordanians traveling to and 
working in Iraq.  End Summary. 
 
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JORDANIAN RELEASED AFTER FAMILY PAYS $100,000 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (C)  A Jordanian businessman kidnapped in Iraq returned 
to Jordan on August 5 after his father and cousin claimed to 
have traveled to Baghdad and paid a $100,000 ransom.  The 
family of Adel Ubeidallah told reporters he was kidnapped on 
July 28 when gunmen stormed his apartment in Baghdad's 
al-Ameriya district, killing one of his Iraqi partners in the 
process.  Ali al-Ayed, director of Foreign Minister Muasher's 
private office and MFA point person on the hostage crisis, 
said on August 8 that the GOJ was not involved in his 
release, and blamed a "gang" for his kidnapping.  While 
expressing skepticism about some of the reported details of 
the story, al-Ayed added that there is no indication that the 
group had a political motivation, and the fact that they 
demanded ransom suggested that the incident was purely 
criminal in nature. 
 
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TWO OTHERS STILL MISSING, BUT GOJ WORKING FOR THEIR RELEASE 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
3.  (C)  Al-Ayed confirmed that two Jordanians kidnapped on 
July 26 have not been released and are still believed to be 
held in the al-Qaim area (refs).  Without going into details, 
he said that the GOJ is working "through various channels" to 
win their release.  (Prime Minister Faisal al-Fayez told a 
local paper on August 7 that the GOJ is in "intensive" 
contact with an Iraqi tribal leader to secure their release.) 
 Al-Ayed acknowledged that someone claiming to have custody 
of the two demanded a ransom of $25,000 but who it was, and 
whether that demand still holds, remains unclear.  He said 
that the Iraqi government, preoccupied with other concerns, 
has not been able to help with their release. 
 
4.  (C)  Al-Ayed said the government's first priority is to 
protect the lives of its citizens, and they preferred to work 
out of the public eye to this end.  However, some relatives 
of the hostages have complicated the GOJ's efforts by 
negotiating directly with purported kidnappers, and in turn 
sharing the resulting information (and in some cases 
misinformation) with the press.  Al-Ayed acknowledged that 
the GOJ has been under significant pressure for its perceived 
"inaction" on behalf of the hostages. 
 
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NO CONCESSIONS MADE FOR FOUR OTHERS 
----------------------------------- 
 
5.  (S/NF)  Al-Ayed insists that the GOJ made no concessions 
on behalf of four Jordanian hostages released last week after 
the intervention of Iraqi tribal and religious leaders in 
Fallujah (ref A).  He said the Iraqi leaders called the 
Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad to take custody of the hostages 
once they were located and freed in Fallujah.  However, 
Jordanian intelligence officials advised their Charge not to 
do so, fearing that the Jordanian diplomats would walk into a 
trap and be kidnapped themselves or killed.  Instead, the men 
were transported to the Jordanian field hospital in Fallujah, 
and then taken to the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad where they 
spent the night before returning to Jordan.  Asked if they 
were able to ascertain the identity of the kidnappers, 
al-Ayed scoffed: "they all know each other," suggesting that 
the tribal leaders arranged for them to "escape" once the 
"raid" commenced. 
 
6.  (C)  Acknowledging that the GOJ's failure to make a 
strong, initial public statement against negotiating with 
kidnappers may have encouraged more hostage-taking, al-Ayed 
emphasized it was the company's decision to give into the 
kidnappers' demands.  He added that until the security 
situation improves -- including on the roads into Iraq -- the 
GOJ is bracing itself for more kidnappings.  However, he 
pointed out that the truckers' security concerns are keeping 
some of them home.  One of the recently released hostages 
told a local newspaper that competitive Iraqi truckers are 
inciting would-be kidnappers against Jordanian truck drivers, 
spreading rumors that they work for U.S. forces.  Another 
former hostage said his impression was that his captors were 
criminals out for money, rather than terrorists with a 
political motivation. 
 
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COMMENT 
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7.  (S/NF)  Although the GOJ insists that it will not make 
concessions to kidnappers, it is unwilling to intercede when 
others do so.  However hesitant to confront the kidnappers 
publicly, al-Ayed clearly implied that Jordanian security 
officials are working their Iraqi tribal contacts to secure 
the remaining hostages' release. 
 
8.  (U)  Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
Visit Embassy Amman's classified website at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ 
or access the site through the State Department's SIPRNET 
home page. 
HALE