TWO FOLEY ASSASSINS HANGED

UNCLAS AMMAN 001827 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PGOV PHUM ASEC JO SUBJECT: TWO FOLEY ASSASSINS HANGED REF: A. CARLSON-S/ES OPS TELCON MARCH 11 ¶B. AMMAN 1503 ¶C. 05 AMMAN 2889 ¶1. (U) Jordanian authorities carried out the executions of two men convicted for the October 28, 2002 assassination of USAID diplomat Lawrence Foley. Libyan national Salim Suwayd, and Jordanian national Yasir Furayhat were hanged at dawn March 11. ¶2. (U) The executions came ten days after riots broke out at three prisons in Jordan including Swaqa Correctional and Rehabilitation Center, the prison where the two were held. Some media reported rioters claiming that the uprisings were in reaction to the authorities' attempt to execute Suwayd and Furayhat. Authorities ended the disturbances without loss of life (ref B). ¶3. (SBU) In keeping with traditional practices here, Furayhat's remains were buried the day he died. According to media reports, hundreds of people in his home village of Rusaifeh, north of Amman, joined the funeral procession. According to Jordanian Public Security Directorate contacts, mourners chanted "God is great; to heaven with these two souls, and to hell will everyone else," while they carried his body to the village cemetery. ¶4. (U) Jordan initially charged 11 men for Foley's murder. Out of the eleven, Suwayd and Furayhat are the only two that have been executed. Two others are currently serving sentences of 15 and 6 years; one was acquitted; and six others, including Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi, were sentenced to death in absentia. One other sentenced to death in absentia, Muammar Jaghbir, was eventually captured in Iraq and is currently being retried in Jordan. HALE