Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03AMMAN5329
2003-08-21 14:17:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

GOJ CONDEMNS UN HEADQUARTERS BOMBING; PRESS,

Tags:  PGOV PHUM SOCI JO 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

211417Z Aug 03
C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 005329 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/21/2013
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI JO
SUBJECT: GOJ CONDEMNS UN HEADQUARTERS BOMBING; PRESS,
STREET REACTION SOFTER


Classified By: CDA David Hale for reasons 1.5(b) and (d)

-----------
GOJ REACTION
------------

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 005329

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/21/2013
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI JO
SUBJECT: GOJ CONDEMNS UN HEADQUARTERS BOMBING; PRESS,
STREET REACTION SOFTER


Classified By: CDA David Hale for reasons 1.5(b) and (d)

--------------
GOJ REACTION
--------------


1. (U) The GOJ reacted strongly against the August 19 bombing
of U.N. HQ in Baghdad. Information Minister, Nabil
al-Sharif, released a statement condemning the "criminal and
cowardly act" and expressing hope that it would not delay
achieving the goals of security and stability in Iraq. The
statement added that the U.N. "will remain an umbrella for
international legitimacy and neutrality". The Foreign
Minister sent U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan a condolence
letter referring to the "brutal and cowardly terrorist
attack" and unequivocally condemning such acts against the
U.N. and its staff.

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PRESS REACTION
--------------


2. (U) Jordanian dailies analyzed the attack, asking
rhetorically who might have carried it out and the impact it
will have on U.S. forces in Iraq. An editorial in the
pro-government daily Al-Rai labeled the attack as "blind
terrorism" and questioned the motives of the perpetrators by
asking if it was not the UN which refused to legitimize the
presence of U.S. and British forces in Iraq. Columnist
Mohammad Amayreh, also in Al-Rai, while labeling the
resistance as "brave", distinguishes between "legitimate
resistance" and "condemnable terrorism". He said the bombing
of the Jordanian Embassy and the strikes against water and
oil pipelines are not harming the "occupation forces" but the
Iraqis themselves and called those behind such attacks
saboteurs rather than men of the resistance.


3. (U) More cynically, Nahed Hattar, a columnist for the
independent Al-Arab Al-Yawm, said the UN headquarters bombing
was evidence that U.S. forces cannot maintain any level of
public security and suggested that the situation may be
spiraling into "utter chaos". He surmised that the
resistance may have targeted the U.N. because of perceptions
that it is "functioning as a tool in the hands of the
Americans". Hattar feared that the strike, in the end, may
prove beneficial to the U.S. and "might help unite the
Security Council members behind it". He thinks the
resistance is "wearing down the U.S. forces" and calls for
their withdrawal.

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COMMENT
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4. (C) Outside of official media, the reaction of Jordanians
in the street to the bombing has been surprisingly light. A
comment heard from several of our contacts is that, after 13
years of UN-imposed sanctions, many Iraqis may not see the UN
as a neutral body or the repository of international
legitimacy. Others have told us that this outrage, following
that on Jordan's embassy, has stripped the attackers in Iraq
of any perceived credibility or legitimacy they might have
held in Jordan as "freedom fighters".
HALE