US embassy cable - 02AMMAN4236

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 004236 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/22/2012 
TAGS: KISL, KPAO, PGOV, PHUM, JO 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR ROSS' MEETING WITH ISLAMISTS: A GOOD 
OPENING 
 
Classified By: CDA GREGORY L. BERRY FOR REASONS 1.5(B) AND (D). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (C) On July 17, R Special Coordinator Ambassador Ross met 
with Islamic Action Front (IAF) leaders Sheikh Hamza Mansour 
(IAF Secretary General), Abdel Latif Arabiyat (IAF Shura 
Council President), and Jamil Abu Bakr (IAF First Deputy 
Secretary General).  Poloff accompanied Ambassador Ross.  IAF 
 
SIPDIS 
leaders welcomed Ross warmly even as they sharply criticized 
U.S. policy.  The July 17 IAF meeting marked another 
significant step in the restoration of contacts between the 
Embassy and the IAF since they were disrupted two years ago 
by visa issues involving prominent Muslim leaders.  End 
summary. 
 
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MORE DIALOGUE NECESSARY 
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2. (C) Poloff opened the July 17 meeting by acknowledging the 
IAF's willingness to engage in dialogue, and noting that this 
willingness had been a factor leading to the meeting with 
Ambassador Ross.  Ambassador Ross expressed the 
Administration's respect for Islam and stated the U.S.'s 
interest in continued dialogue with Islamist figures who 
eschew violence and terror.  Ambassador Ross said the U.S. 
had traditionally underestimated the importance of dialogue 
with the Arab world in general and with the Islamist current 
in particular, and asked IAF leaders for their views 
regarding "the feelings of the Arab people regarding the 
situation" and "the role of the U.S."  He also noted, 
critically, that Muslims had allowed the September 11 
perpetrators to present themselves as if they were acting in 
the name of Islam. 
 
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ROSS' VISIT "MAY BE A GOOD START" 
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3. (C) As expected, Ambassador Ross' affirmation of the need 
for continued dialogue provoked sharp responses from IAF 
leaders: 
 
- Arabiyat welcomed Ambassador Ross' "positive outlook" and 
said "Muslims condemned the acts of September 11."  However, 
Arabiyat believes answers to questions about who perpetrated 
the September 11 attacks can be answered by looking at who 
benefited from the attacks (i.e., Zionists).  Muslims have 
gained nothing while Zionists have gained the loyalties of 45 
million Americans, presumably including many conservative 
Christians, who are "now mobilized . . . to serve Israel 
under the pretext that Christ will return when Greater Israel 
comes to exist."  Arabiyat also complained about what he 
views as a bias against Muslims dating back to Nixon, and a 
media warp that distorts American opinion in favor of Israel. 
 Perhaps because of this, Arabiyat said, America perilously 
places "all its capabilities at the disposal of the Zionist 
project" regardless of divergence between U.S. and Israeli 
interests. 
 
- Turning more towards regional issues, Arabiyat claimed that 
what little was built through the Oslo accords (opposed by 
Islamists at the time of their signing) has been destroyed by 
U.S. support for Sharon "the war criminal," whom the U.S. 
calls "a man of peace."  Regarding Iraq, Arabiyat criticized 
U.S. policy for supporting "a deadly siege" in Iraq on 
grounds that Iraqis have weapons of mass destruction, yet 
failing to "ask similar questions about the Jewish weapons of 
mass destruction."  In answering Ambassador Ross' question as 
to why the Muslim masses had allowed persons like Bin Laden 
to speak in their name, Arabiyat said the street "applauded 
the acts of Bin Laden as an expression of their frustration 
with U.S. policy, particularly in Iraq and Palestine."  At 
the end of all this, Arabiyat optimistically concluded that 
Ambassador Ross' visit "may be a good start." 
 
- Mansour began by focusing closely on Ambassador Ross' 
statement that America had not done enough to promote 
dialogue with Islamists.  According to Mansour, "things may 
be well" if this is an Administration view and not just a 
personal view held by Ambassador Ross.  Mansour then cited 
Qur'anic verses which, he said, show the September 11 
"attacks on non-Muslims (were) equally an attack on Islam" 
and provide the basis for "our condemnation" of them.  But 
Mansour blamed September 11 on the pro-Israeli bias of the 
"U.S. Administration" and, most notably of all, its support 
of Sharon.  "Over and above (giving Sharon the money and 
weapons to kill Palestinians), you picked this man, who is 
accursed by the ground on which he walks and describe him as 
a man of peace."  As an aside, Mansour also complained that 
it is not up to the U.S. to decide that Arafat and Saddam 
Hussein should be replaced, though he and his colleagues do 
not support either leader. 
 
- Next, Mansour focused on the realm of public diplomacy, by 
addressing what he termed the "U.S. failure in persuading 
Arabs and Muslims that Islam is not (the Americans') target." 
 Again, Mansour laid the blame squarely on U.S. policy. 
"You," he said, "are capable of occupying the whole world, 
but you will not win our hearts except through justice.  We 
may be weak and poor, but we have rights and are willing to 
make sacrifices to defend them."  Mansour said he fears the 
day when Arab anger boils over to the point that it "becomes 
directed against all things American or Western" and people 
widely say "Bin Laden is the solution."  Mansour believes 
that the U.S. now stands at a historical moment, and 
concluded by expressing hope that he had "presented a correct 
picture" of the dire situation to Ambassador Ross. 
- Mansour and Arabiyat both expressed anger and skepticism 
concerning President Bush's June 24 speech.  They remain 
unmoved by President Bush's references to Israeli withdrawal 
from the West Bank and eventual creation of a Palestinian 
state, which they juxtapose against past delays in reaching 
both goals and America's recent "unleash(ing of) the criminal 
Sharon, the man of massacres" with carte blanche authority 
"to kill people, to kill women and children, (and) to change 
the (Palestinian) leadership."  According to the IAF leaders, 
the street has no faith in President Bush's vision because 
its immediate effect is to provide Sharon with political 
cover without giving anything palpable to Palestinians. 
 
- Abu Bakr predicted that moderate influences within Islam 
and the Arab World will continue to weaken as long as the 
U.S. supports Israel at the expense of the Arab rights. 
Trends towards extremism will gather strength so long as U.S. 
policy remains unjust and Arabic regimes remain illegitimate. 
 Picking up on the legitimacy point, Mansour added that 
America must "respect the peoples' choice" in Jordan (i.e., 
by supporting parliamentary elections, in which many expect 
Islamists to do well).  He criticized the lack of a sitting 
Parliament and the GOJ's repeated delays in holding new 
elections, saying he "knew" America had hypocritically 
"blessed" this. 
 
4. (C) Ambassador Ross responded generally by noting the 
Administration's realization that there exists a principled 
Islamic world with which it should engage positively.  He 
further emphasized our common desires for peace and justice 
for all mankind.  The disagreement, as Ambassador Ross put 
it, is over "the means to get there."  Ambassador Ross 
expressed hope in finding a way "to interact positively with 
the real Muslim ummah" on the goal of achieving peace and 
justice, and concluded by acknowledging that we jointly have 
"hard issues to work on."  Arabiyat applauded Ambassador 
Ross' remarks and expressed gratitude for his visit, saying 
that he and his colleagues had been "looking for such an 
opening and for this line of thinking." 
 
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PRESS COVERAGE OF THE MEETING 
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5. (C) Several Jordanian newspapers have published articles 
about Ambassador Ross' meeting with Islamists.  The 
sensationalist weekly "Shihan" went so far as to assert that 
the meeting took place "behind the Government's back," and 
that it surprised local politicians given "the mounting U.S. 
campaign against Arab and Islamic countries under the excuse 
of combating terrorism."  Shihan also reported that 
Ambassador Ross' meeting is part of a regional USG effort to 
"obtain information from Islamic communities . . . so as to 
develop means of confronting Islamic movements."  The 
Islamist weekly Assabeel has not covered the meeting at all, 
even though articles like the one in Shihan may be calculated 
to rouse the ire of more extreme Islamist elements opposed to 
engagement with the U.S. 
 
6. (C) For his part, Sheikh Mansour has adopted a firm and 
unapologetic tone in answering press questions about the 
meeting.  When asked by Shihan, for example, if he feared 
news of the meeting might infuriate the Islamist rank and 
file, Mansour responded: "We were not in an entertainment 
session.  We conveyed the message, which the Americans should 
hear.  One of our party's aims is to express our stands." 
Asked if there would be other meetings with Americans, 
Mansour replied that he would have no reservations if "there 
was an interest" in meeting and that "each case (involving 
the possibility of a meeting) will be studied at its 
appropriate time." 
 
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COMMENT 
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7. (C) Ambassador Ross' meeting with "moderate" leaders of 
the IAF and Muslim Brotherhood was the most significant and 
high-level USG contact with Islamists in Jordan in more than 
two years.  While the bulk of the meeting focused on 
criticisms of U.S. policy, Ambassador Ross offered the goal 
of achieving peace and justice as a conceptual "opening" on 
which future dialogue can build.  We anticipate that future 
contacts will reveal more about the IAF's operations and 
agenda in Jordan.  End comment. 
 
8. (U) This message was cleared by Ambassador Ross. 
Berry