Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04AMMAN4115
2004-05-23 14:28:00
SECRET//NOFORN
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

NEW (BOGUS) ALLEGATIONS SURFACE ABOUT FOLEY

Tags:  ASEC PTER 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.
S E C R E T AMMAN 004115 

SIPDIS

NOFORN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/20/2014
TAGS: ASEC PTER JO
SUBJECT: NEW (BOGUS) ALLEGATIONS SURFACE ABOUT FOLEY
ASSASSINATION

REF: A. FBIS GMP20040505000090

B. AMMAN 2645

C. FBIS GMP20021029000070

D. FBIS GMP20010812000027

Classified By: Ambassador Edward W. Gnehm for reasons 1.5 (b)(d)

S E C R E T AMMAN 004115

SIPDIS

NOFORN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/20/2014
TAGS: ASEC PTER JO
SUBJECT: NEW (BOGUS) ALLEGATIONS SURFACE ABOUT FOLEY
ASSASSINATION

REF: A. FBIS GMP20040505000090

B. AMMAN 2645

C. FBIS GMP20021029000070

D. FBIS GMP20010812000027

Classified By: Ambassador Edward W. Gnehm for reasons 1.5 (b)(d)


1. (C) Jordanian security contacts have dismissed a renewed
claim of responsibility for the October 2002 assassination of
USAID official Lawrence Foley, and say they are confident
that the right people have been convicted for the crime. The
Islamic Action Front (IAF)-affiliated newspaper al-Sabil on
May 4 reported it had received a communiqu in the name of
"Shurafa al-Urdun" (the Nobles of Jordan),in addition to two
bullet casings that the senders claimed matched the weapons
that killed Foley and Yitzak Snir, an Israeli businessman who
was gunned down in the same Amman neighborhood in August

2001. The communiqu claimed that this new "evidence" proved
that the men convicted on April 6 by Jordan's state security
court for Foley's assassination were in fact innocent of the
crime. According to al-Sabil, Hussein Majali, the President
of the Jordanian Bar Association who is the principal defense
attorney for the Foley assassins, received a similar package
in the mail (refs a and b).


2. (S/NF) The "Nobles of Jordan" issued claims immediately
after the Foley and Snir shootings (refs c and d),but until
now, security services cannot confirm the group's existence.
Moreover, ORCA security contacts report that the bullet
casings sent to the paper do not match the ballistics from
the crime scene. They remain confident that they have
accurately identified and built a solid case against the
perpetrators in Foley's killing, and dismiss the communiqu
as a feeble attempt by as yet unidentified individuals to
exonerate the criminals responsible for the assassination.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


3. (C) It is possible that unknown supporters of the
defendants (who still maintain their innocence) concocted
this story in an effort to cast doubt on the April 6 verdicts
in advance of the groups' upcoming appeal in the Court of
Cassation. The "group" may have chosen to send the
"evidence" to al-Sabil (the highest circulation weekly in
Jordan) because as the publication of Jordan's leading
opposition group, it was more likely than other
pro-government newspapers to publish the story. No other
Jordanian newspapers reported the story.

Visit Embassy Amman's classified web site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman or access the site
through the State Department's SIPRNET home page.
GNEHM