US embassy cable - 02AMMAN5653

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 005653 
 
SIPDIS 
 
S/CT FOR JANEAN MANN AND ANTONIA CHAMBERS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/01/2012 
TAGS: PTER, ASEC, KCRM, JO 
SUBJECT: FTOS: QUARTERLY REVIEW 
 
REF: SECSTATE 179250 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR EDWARD W. GNEHM FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) 
 
1. (C) Per reftel, a number of foreign terrorist 
organizations (FTOs)--mostly Palestinian rejectionist 
groups--maintain a clandestine presence in Jordan.  Those 
that qualify under the FTO status are HAMAS, PFLP, PFLP-GC, 
PIJ, Abu Nidal, and Hizballah.  Although DFLP no longer 
qualifies as an FTO, they too maintain a presence in Jordan. 
To our knowledge, these groups are not currently involved in 
targeting U.S. or Jordanian interests, but use Jordan as a 
base for propaganda, fund-raising, and political purposes. 
These groups probably also provide some support 
infrastructure--including weapons smuggling--for anti-Israeli 
operations inside Israel and the West Bank. 
 
2. (C) We believe al-Qa'ida also has a presence in Jordan. 
Two cells affiliated with the al-Qaida organization were 
arrested in 1999 for plotting to carryout attacks against 
hotels catering to Westerners and at Christian religious 
sites within Jordan.  A recent thread of reporting indicating 
that al-Qa'ida members may have planned to conduct kidnapping 
operations against American businessmen in Jordan suggests 
al-Qa'ida continues to consider Jordan as a platform for its 
anti-American operations. 
 
3. (C) There are also a unknown number of Islamic extremists 
in Jordan who sympathize with Bin Ladin's anti-American 
message or related extremist idelogies.  Jordanian officials 
recently arrested a number of these sympathizers who may have 
been planning to target Americans in West Amman, the area 
where the U.S. Embassy is located.  We continue to monitor 
these Islamists to see if they coalesce into an organized 
group that would qualify as an FTO. 
 
4. (C) The GOJ continues to aggressively pursue 
counterterrorist operations against all these groups.  The 
GOJ also vigilantly patrols their borders and has 
successfully disrupted several attempts to smuggle personnel 
and weapons to Palestinian rejectionist groups in Israel and 
the West Bank. 
 
 
GNEHM