PARDONS FOR TWO ISLAMIST POLITICIANS

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 007553 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/02/2011 TAGS: PGOV PTER PHUM KISL JO SUBJECT: PARDONS FOR TWO ISLAMIST POLITICIANS REF: A. AMMAN 7420 ¶B. AMMAN 4396 Classified By: Ambassador David Hale for reasons 1.4 (b) and (D) ¶1. (U) King Abdullah pardoned jailed Islamists Muhammad Abu Fares and Ali Abul Sukkar on September 30. The two were imprisoned for "inciting sectarianism" for statements they made after the death of Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi in June (ref B). They also lost their seats in the Chamber of Deputies upon their conviction, and despite the pardon they remain ineligible to hold office. ¶2. (U) Muhammad Abu Fares told media shortly after his release that "politics is upholding the Islamic nation's interests and mobilizing it for jihad against the Jews and Americans wherever they occupy Muslim lands. We did so before we became MPs and we will continue to do so when we are out of parliament." ¶3. (C) Comment: With the pardons, the GOJ is reciprocating the Islamist movement's decisions (ref A) to back away from confrontation. Abu Fares is likely to clash with the more moderate faction that reasserted its control over the movement during his time in jail. Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ Hale