FOUR MORE JORDANIANS REPORTED KIDNAPPED IN IRAQ

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 006436

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/29/2014
TAGS: PTER ASEC JO IQ
SUBJECT: FOUR MORE JORDANIANS REPORTED KIDNAPPED IN IRAQ

REF: AMMAN 6370

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

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) The Jordan-Iraq hostage saga continues, as Jordanian
officials scrambled to confirm press reports that militants
kidnapped another four Jordanians in Iraq. The two men
abducted on July 26 are not yet free despite their employer's
acquiescence (at least on the surface) to the kidnappers
demands. In an ironic twist, it seems that personal threats
from family members against the company chief may have played
a role in the company's decision. Meanwhile, the Islamic
Action Front appealed for the hostages' release, although it
expressed sympathy for the goals of the Iraqi "resistance."
The GOJ is receptive to our message that giving in to the
hostage-takers only breeds more kidnappings, but it is under
significant popular pressure to do whatever it takes to save
the lives of their citizens. End Summary.

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GOJ LOOKING INTO REPORTS OF FOUR MORE HOSTAGES
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2. (U) GOJ officials are investigating press reports that
four more Jordanian citizens were kidnapped in Iraq on July

28. MFA official Ali al-Ayed said that the Jordanian Embassy
in Iraq had been instructed to follow-up on the kidnapping
claim, and Jordan's charge to Iraq -- in Amman this week --
was ordered back to Baghdad to handle the matter. As yet,
the identities of the four men -- who were shown on
al-Arabiya holding up ID cards (although the wording was
unreadable) -- have not been determined. Jordanian citizen
Walid Ahmad Khleifat told a reporter that he believes his
brother, an independent trucker who left Jordan for Iraq
earlier in the week to deliver shoes and sewing machines to
an Iraqi trader, is among those kidnapped. He said he tried
to call his brother Mohammad several times on July 28 on his
cell phone in Iraq, but that an unidentified man with an
Iraqi accent claimed his brother had been abducted.

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STILL WAITING FOR RELEASE OF TWO TAKEN ON JULY 26
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3. (U) Meanwhile, two Jordanians kidnapped on July 26 have
not yet been released, despite their employer's announcement
on July 27 that the company would freeze operations in Iraq
(ref). GOJ officials confirmed to Charge on July 29 that the
company, Daoud and Partners, still intends to continue
operations in Iraq despite its public announcement, but under
a different guise (perhaps by changing its name) -- this
subterfuge, of course, in no way affects the perception that
kidnappings work, and perception is all that matters in this
case. The Islamic Action Front, which has been sympathetic
to the activities of the militants in Iraq, issued a
statement that it "appreciates the motives of the Iraqi
resistance in pressuring the occupation forces, and the firms
which provide services to these forces, to swiftly leave
Iraq." At the same time, it urged the kidnappers to release
the Jordanians, saying they would be "compensated by God."


4. (C) The GOJ tried to distance itself from the company's
decision (indeed, per ref, it went against the advice of GOJ
officials). Minister of Planning Bassam Awadallah, who is
traveling with King Abdullah, told reporters in Hong Kong
that, "It's a company decision. The government has
absolutely nothing to do with it," adding that the company's
move would not affect U.S.-Jordanian relations. "The
government of Jordan is interested in protecting Jordanian
lives and the government of Jordan is also interested in
reconstruction and the stability of Iraq." However,
Jordanian officials could have prevented the company's move
-- but at the political price of seeming indifferent in a
humanitarian crisis.

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THREATS FROM ALL SIDES
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5. (U) Threats against the hostages' employer from the
families may have played into the company's decision to
announce a withdrawal from Iraq. According to press reports,
male family members who staged a sit-in outside the company's
Amman office on July 27 threatened to kill Chief Executive
Rami al-'Uweis if he did not give into the kidnappers
demands. Ahmad Salama, father of one of the hostages, told
reporters: "We will chop off the head of the firm's director
if he doesn't heed our demands to completely cease his
operation in Iraq." Meanwhile, Umar al-Adwan, brother of
other hostage, said: "We told the firm's executive director,
Rami al-'Uweis that if he does not comply with the
kidnappers' demands today, his company and the lives of his
employees will not be spared." Al-'Uweis later that day held
a press conference announcing his company would freeze
activities in Jordan. The family members immediately
expressed their gratitude, and Umar al-Adwan retracted his
threat with an apology, saying he had spoken "in a moment of
rage," according to press reports.

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COMMENT
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6. (C) The GOJ is receptive to our repeated message that
giving into the hostage-takers' demands will only breed more
abductions -- both Charge and ORCA reinforced this message
with GID Chief Sa'ad Kheir and FonMin Muasher on August 29 --
and insists it has counseled the company and family members
with the same message. However, as exemplified by the
emotional (and ironic) violent threats against the employer,
the pressure from the families is great. Many ordinary
Jordanians do not believe that a strong stand against
terrorism is worth dying for, particularly for what they
perceive is a U.S.-instigated crisis in Iraq.


7. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.

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