US embassy cable - 02AMMAN6535

S E C R E T AMMAN 006535 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2012 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, PGOV, JO 
SUBJECT: ISLAMIST ABU SAYYAF POSES CHALLENGE TO GOJ IN MA'AN 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 341 B. FBIS GMP20021031000084 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR EDWARD W. GNEHM FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) 
 
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GOJ ENCOUNTERS TROUBLE IN MA'AN...AGAIN 
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1. (C) Jordanian Security Forces are currently engaged in a 
tense standoff with Islamist activist Mohammad Shalibi aka 
Abu Sayyaf, which started when the PSD attempted to take Abu 
Sayyaf into custody on October 29, at a road block on the 
Desert Highway near Ma'an in Southern Jordan.  Abu Sayyaf 
(accused of being the local leader of the rejectionist 
Islamic group takfir wa hijra) has been wanted by the 
Jordanian authorities for his involvement in stirring up 
protests in Ma'an--a city with a history of  anti-government 
unrest--after a January incident involving the death of a 
local boy in police custody (see ref A).  Abu Sayyaf resisted 
arrest and a firefight ensued in which Abu Sayyaf and two PSD 
officers were injured.  PSD were unable to arrest Abu Sayyaf, 
who escaped with the help of heavily armed local tribesmen 
and he remains at large in the Ma'an area.  According to RSO 
contacts in the PSD, the PSD has no evidence linking Abu 
Sayyaf with the Foley assasination and Abu Sayyaf has 
publicly denied any connection to it (although he was quoted 
in al-Quds al-Arabi as saying he was pleased with the 
"operation"--Ref B).  The current situation poses a difficult 
challenge of authority for the King in a city that has 
periodically over the past two decades, seen similar tensions 
erupt. 
 
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KING PREPARED TO ACT WITH FORCE 
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2.  (S)  British Ambassador Prentice told the Ambassador 
November 6 that he had raised the situation in Ma'an during a 
dinner conversation with King Abdullah on November 5.  The 
King was well briefed on the situation, and understood the 
actions and statements of Abu Sayyaf and his supporters to be 
a direct challenge to government authority in the city.  The 
King commented that his security officials had tried thus far 
to deal with the Ma'an situation with a "light approach" 
given the interplay of tribal and religious factors.  "But 
enough is enough," the King told Prentice.    Murderers and 
those responsible for public disorder must be brought to 
heel, he said. 
 
3.  (S)  The King said he understood that Abu Sayyaf and his 
men were well armed, including with rocket propelled grenades 
(RPG's).  Possession of RPG's, the King commented, is 
illegal, and if the government does not deal with the 
situation, it will only get worse.  The King told Prentice 
that he had ordered security agencies to give Abu Sayyaf 
forty eight hours to surrender himself to the police.  If he 
did not, the King said, he had ordered the security forces to 
resolve the standoff with force. 
 
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COMMENT 
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4.  (S)  Ma'an -- an economically depressed area with strong 
tribal views and a significant presence of Salafi and Takfiri 
adherents -- has long been a center of opposition to the 
government.  Over the past twenty years, Ma'an has been the 
scene of unrest and rioting over bread and gasoline price 
increases.  We have been watching the current difficulties 
brew over the past week, and believe they may soon reach a 
crisis point. 
 
5.  (S)  That said, we do not see any popular reverberation 
of recent events in Ma'an in other areas of Jordan, nor do we 
feel a groundswell of similar anti-government feeling in 
other population centers.  Nor should we connect these events 
to the tragic murder of USAID Officer Larry Foley (although 
some in the press have done so, and may again).  In the end, 
these latest troubles in Ma'an are a serious, but local, 
challenge to government authority from a town that has 
periodically challenged the government in the past. 
 
GNEHM