FOUR JORDANIAN HOSTAGES FREED IN IRAQ

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 006574

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/05/2014
TAGS: PTER ASEC JO IQ
SUBJECT: FOUR JORDANIAN HOSTAGES FREED IN IRAQ

REF: A. AMMAN 6456

B. AMMAN 6370

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


1. (U) Four Jordanian citizens kidnapped in Iraq last week
have been freed as a result of the intervention of Iraqi
tribal leaders and the Muslim Ulema Committee in Fallujah,
according to MFA official Ali al-Ayed. Press reports
indicate that Iraqi Shaykh Haj Ibrahim Jassam learned on
August 3 that four kidnapped Jordanians were being held in a
house in Fallujah, and he then organized a raid to free them.
Once the raid began on August 4, according to the shaykh,
the kidnappers fled the house and the hostages were brought
to his home unharmed. Al-Ayed told reporters that no
concessions had been made to the kidnappers, describing them
as "bandits." The fate of two truck drivers kidnapped on
July 26 remains unknown. The circumstances surrounding a
missing businessman from Ramtha -- reported earlier this week
as a seventh hostage -- remained unclear.


2. (U) Perhaps in response to some public criticism the GOJ
was not doing enough to secure the release of the hostages
(on August 2 the families of two of the hostages had gone to
the Royal Court demanding GOJ action for their release),MFA
officials had scheduled a press conference on August 4 to
announce the hostage release. However, it was canceled after
the men's arrival in Jordan was delayed. The men were first
transported to the Jordanian field hospital in Fallujah Iraq
for a medical checkup. MFA official Ashraf Zeitoon told
PolOff on August 5 that the men were en route to Jordan to be
reunited with their families.


3. (C) Observers note that animosity towards Jordan among
some Iraqis (and foreign militants holed up in Iraq) almost
certainly has played a role in the kidnappers' targeting
decisions, noting that Syrian truckers, for example, have not
(yet) met the same fate as their Jordanian counterparts.
Unsurprisingly, the kidnappings have had a deleterious effect
on Jordanian truckers' willingness to make trip, fearing for
their safety. Unconfirmed press reports indicate that some
Jordanian truckers have been forced to sign papers relieving
their company of responsibility for their safety once in
Iraq. Contacts tell us Iraqi truckers are picking up the
slack.


3. (C) Comment: The release of the four Jordanians will
help lower the volume of criticism directed at the GOJ for
its handling of the hostage crisis, although the GOJ's role
in the latest turn of events, if any, remains unclear. Post
will attempt to verify the GOJ's public claim that it did not
make any concessions to the kidnappers. Regardless, its
failure to take a strong public stand against the terrorists
after the first two hostages were taken probably encouraged
the subsequent kidnappings. Ironically, those two men are
still not free despite their employer's acquiescence (with
GOJ support) to the kidnappers' demands.


4. (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