SADDAM'S ARREST: MOST JORDANIANS SUBDUED;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 008196

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2013
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ JO
SUBJECT: SADDAM'S ARREST: MOST JORDANIANS SUBDUED;
JORDAN-BASED IRAQIS THRILLED; PRESS OUTRAGED AT LACK OF A
FIGHT


Classified By: DCM DAVID Hale for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d).

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) The reactions of Jordanians and Jordan-based Iraqis to
Saddam's arrest varied from sadness at seeing a once powerful
Arab leader in such a sorry state, to ridicule for his lack
of personal resistance to arrest, to hope that an obstacle to
restoring Iraqi security and self-governance has been
removed. The GOJ spokesperson hoped the arrest would turn a
page on Iraq's history and speed stability and transfer of
authority to Iraqis. In contrast, an Islamic Action Front MP
expressed support for Saddam as "a symbol of defiance." End
Summary.

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GOJ HOPES ARREST LEADS TO IRAQI STABILITY
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2. (U) Asma Khader, GOJ spokesperson, provided the official
government commentary in a statement December 14. She said
that for Jordan, the "first and final word on the arrest and
fate of Saddam Hussein should be for the Iraqi people." She
expressed Jordan's support for the rebuilding of Iraqi
institutions, and hoped the arrest of Saddam would turn a
page in Iraq's history and hasten the resumption of stability
and Iraqi self-governance.

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JORDANIANS HOPE TO MOVE ON
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3. (C) Reactions of average Jordanians varied from sadness to
hope that Saddam's arrest will lead to stabilization in Iraq.
Several Palestinian-Jordanians were dismayed that Saddam,
once a proud and strong Arab leader who espoused the
Palestinian cause, looked like a defeated and disoriented old
man. A French journalist who sampled Jordanian public
reaction stated that many Jordanians feel "a little sad"
about the circumstances of the capture. The journalist added
that it was not a sense of humiliation, just sadness at the
human deterioration of this once iconoclastic Arab leader.
Several Jordanian businessmen welcomed the news of Saddam's
arrest and were cautiously optimistic that this would
translate into a better business climate between Jordan and
Iraq, provided the security situation improves. Farouq
al-Hadidi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Trade and
Industry, told EconCouns that government officials and other
businesspeople he deals with have all welcomed the news and
hope that the result will be an end to the attacks and more
stability (and Jordanian business) in Iraq.

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SOME STILL SUPPORTING SADDAM
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4. (C) Not all Jordanians welcomed the arrest, Islamic Action
Front MP Azzam Hneidi told the New York Times that Saddam's
arrest was "bad news." "To us," Hneidi continued, "Saddam
was a symbol of defiance to the U.S. plans in the region.
And we support any person who stands in the face of American
dominance." Expressing a similar sentiment, Mohammad Najib
Rashdan, a Jordanian lawyer, contacted PolFSN to express the
interest of a group of 50 Jordanian lawyers in representing
Saddam Hussein in court. He stated that President Bush said
that Saddam was entitled to a fair trial and that every
defendant has a right to legal counsel. He asked that the
Embassy pass his request on to the CPA.

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JORDAN-BASED IRAQIS HOPE FOR CLOSURE
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5. (C) A contact who left Iraq at the age of sixteen told
PolOff that she cried tears of joy on hearing the news.
April 9, she declared, was the day Baghdad fell, "but
December 14 was the day Saddam fell". She went on to say
that she was present when the news broke at a gathering with
other Jordan-based Iraqis, who all kept asking "Iraq without
Saddam? What will become of us?" She said Iraqis are afraid
of the word "democracy", and of the freedom to choose,
although she was confident that Iraqis possess the ability
and willingness to move forward, given proper guidance. She
recounted how a friend in Baghdad told her that she had been
living under Saddam's terror for the last thirty years, and
everyday when she woke up she felt disgusted at living under
his regime. Now, for the first time, "she will wake up and
not feel this way any longer."


6. (SBU) The Ambassador encountered a similar reaction when,
simultaneously with CPA's press conference, he told a group
of Iraqi women leaders attending the Women Waging Peace
conference in Amman that Saddam had been captured. The group
exploded into applause and ululation.

7. (C) Several Iraqi businessmen in Jordan urged the
Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to focus on providing
jobs for Iraqis as a way to dampen incidents of violence in
Iraq. They alluded to an old Iraqi proverb that says, "Get
them busy quickly", as a means to ward off trouble from idle
hands.

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AND SOME REACTIONS FROM IRAQ
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8. (U) Manal Omar, country director for NGO Women for Women
International in Baghdad, said via e-mail that she was with a
group of Iraqi women when the news of Saddam's arrest was
announced. According to Omar, almost all broke into tears
and sobs, finding it hard to believe that the man who had
ripped their lives apart by murdering their husbands, sons
and fathers had finally been captured. These women also
found it ironic that Saddam, a feared dictator who had
brought Iraq to its knees and sold its people for political
gain, was now "at the bottom". Omar described the scene
after the women had dried their tears as one of joyous shouts
of "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) and disbelief that they had
witnessed in their lifetimes Saddam's arrest. The Iraqi
women then joined to sing old Iraqi songs of joy, "Tonight is
an amazing night, a night to celebrate."

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PRESS REACTION: OUTRAGE AND SADNESS
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9. (U) On December 15, all Jordanian dailies ran headlines
regarding Saddam's capture. The center-left Arabic daily
Al-Dustour wrote, "The West and Israel welcome the news, joy
and sadness in Iraq, Arab public opinion divided".
Al-Dustour's editorials stated that while much would be said
about Saddam's capture and trial, the focus should be on
Iraqis and their chance for a better life once the occupation
ends and elections for a representative government occur.
Another editorial in Al-Dustour stated that now that Saddam
was finished, the U.S. "occupation" was still a "bleeding
wound" against Iraq and its people. The semi-official Arabic
daily Al-Rai wrote that Saddam was a symbol of Arab
nationalism and Arabs had a right to be angry over Arab and
Iraqi dignity. It added that Saddam may be over, but Iraq's
resistance will not end until it rids itself from the
occupiers and regains its independence and sovereignty.
Another Al-Rai editorial bemoaned Saddam's undignified and
less-than-courageous fall, while yet another warned that
Saddam's capture raises the probability of a George Bush
re-election, which augurs a grave threat to Arab and
international unity.

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COMMENT
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10. (C) The capture of Saddam Hussein came as a bit of a
shock to Jordan, where many believed that he -- "like Osama
Bin Laden" -- would be able to evade capture by the Coalition
indefinitely. Notwithstanding the continued support of a
determined minority, most Jordanians will view Saddam's
capture as the real end of his regime, and as a real
opportunity to turn the page on the past 23 years and move to
a new era.


11. (U) CPA Baghdad minimize considered.

Visit Embassy Amman's classified website at

http://www.state.sgov/p/nea/amman/

or access the site through the State Department's SIPRNET
home page.
GNEHM