AMBASSADOR ROSS' MEETING WITH ISLAMISTS: A GOOD

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