US embassy cable - 04AMMAN7927

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 007927 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2014 
TAGS: PREL, IZ, JO, KINR 
SUBJECT: IRAQ ROUNDUP: NEW IRAQI AMBASSADOR AND FORMER 
JORDAN AMB TO IRAQ COMMENT ON SITUATION IN IRAQ 
 
Classified By: CDA David Hale for reasons 1.4 (b), (d). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY: Newly-arrived Iraqi Ambassador to Jordan Ata 
Abdul Wahab,s primary mission is to change the distorted 
picture many Jordanians have of developments in Iraq.  Abdul 
Wahab last served in the Iraqi government as King Faisal II's 
private secretary in 1958.  Separately, former Jordan 
Ambassador to Iraq and retired JAF Major General Hmood 
Qatarneh urged privately that the Iraqi Interim Government 
(IIG) and U.S. bring former Iraqi military leaders into the 
political process.  End Summary. 
 
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NEW IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO JORDAN 
------------------------------ 
 
2. (C) In a September 19 introductory call with CDA, new 
Iraqi Ambassador Ata Abdul Wahab described his primary 
mission as changing the distorted picture many Jordanians 
have of developments in Iraq, and in particular the equation 
of the Iraqi "resistance" with Palestinians fighting against 
Israeli occupation.  Abdul Wahab agreed that Iraq and the 
U.S. needed to work in parallel ways -- though not visibly in 
coordination -- and he welcomed the idea of exchanging ideas 
with post's PA section.  Abdul Wahab praised the strong 
Jordan-Iraq government relationship, and the Iraqi police 
training program in Jordan.  Abdul Wahab said Iraq was 
enthusiastic about a proposal to work with Jordan to improve 
the transportation infrastructure from Aqaba to the border 
and into Iraq.  He said the financing details needed 
development, but in principle it was a good proposal and 
would be discussed by a joint Iraq-Jordan higher committee at 
the end of the month.  As for the Iraqi Embassy in Amman, he 
said his biggest problem was staffing shortages, but claimed 
the MFA in Iraq is helpful in identifying new personnel. 
 
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FORMER JORDAN AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ 
-------------------------------- 
 
3. (C) In a September 16 meeting with PolOff and post's Iraq 
Policy Coordinator, former Jordan Ambassador to Iraq and 
retired JAF Major General Hmood Qatarneh urged the IIG and 
U.S. to exert greater effort to bring some former senior 
Iraqi military leaders and Ba'ath party figures into the 
political process.  He claimed many of these Iraqi leaders, 
including some former Republican Guard commanders, personally 
hated Saddam and did not support his policies, although they 
were obliged to give public support.  He asserted some had 
widespread respect and substantial followings, and that many 
were convinced secular nationalists, opposed to extremism and 
resistant to Iranian/Syrian influence.  Bringing such people 
into the fold, he claimed, would help the security situation 
as many of those military leaders removed after the 
liberation could immediately step in and provide leadership 
and support for the IIG.  He based this view on his term as 
Ambassador in Iraq from 1997 to 2000, asserting most of the 
Iraqi military leadership despised the Saddam Hussein regime 
despite maintaining membership in the Ba'ath party. 
 
4. (C) Qatarneh also stressed the importance of reaching out 
(through intermediaries if necessary) and identifying and 
cultivating &home grown8 leadership figures. &There are 
two or three in every community.8  He criticized a perceived 
predominance of former Iraqi exiles and the current make-up 
of the IIG. 
 
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BIO NOTES 
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5. (C) Ata Abdul Wahab was an Iraqi Foreign Service officer 
in the early 50s, serving in Beirut and later becoming King 
Faisal II's private secretary.  After the 1958 coup he was 
dismissed from the government and went into a private 
reinsurance business in Baghdad.  He moved to Kuwait to work 
for Lloyds in 1969, but says that shortly afterward he was 
kidnapped by Iraqi agents and smuggled back to Baghdad, where 
he was brutally tortured and sentenced to death on 
manufactured charges of espionage on behalf of Israel.  Abdul 
Wahab said at that time Saddam was trying to consolidate 
power through terror, and the arrest of a number of known 
"names" from previous regimes was effective in spreading 
fear.  His sentence was later commuted to a life term; later, 
having served his purpose, he was released in 1982 but not 
permitted to leave Iraq.  He fled to Jordan in 1992 and kept 
a low profile, supporting himself in translating literary 
works from English to Arabic (a practice he had begun while 
in prison, to keep his mind active).  He has translated the 
works of William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf, for example. 
His memoirs, in Arabic, are due for publication shortly. 
 
6. (C) Hmood Qatarneh is a Sunni Muslim.  He retired from the 
JAF as a Major General in 1997, and shortly after became 
Jordan Ambassador to Iraq.  Proud of his military service, he 
said he had trained in the U.S. at Ft. Benning and Ft. Knox 
on several occasions.  He praised the training he received at 
the Infantry Officer Advanced Course (now called the 
Captain's Course) at Ft. Benning as the best in his career. 
A career armor officer, he last served the JAF as commander 
of the 5th Armor Division, a position he held for five years. 
 Qatarneh served as Jordan's Ambassador to Iraq from 1997 to 
2000 and has not visited Iraq since.  Although criticized by 
a former Foreign Minister of Jordan for being too close to 
Iraqis, Qatarneh is proud of his success at establishing what 
he regarded as trustworthy relationships with prominent 
regime officials below the immediate circle of Saddam 
cronies.  He is now General Manager of Alsham Palace Trading 
Establishment, an import and export business. 
7. (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