MUTED REACTION TO SADDAM'S SENTENCING

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 008303 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/07/2016 TAGS: PGOV ASEC IZ JO SUBJECT: MUTED REACTION TO SADDAM'S SENTENCING REF: AMMAN 8271 Classified By: Ambassador David Hale for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) Protesting Saddam Hussein's sentencing November 5, an impromptu gathering of students burned an American flag at the University of Jordan's Amman campus before authorities peacefully dispersed them. Several Islamist and other opposition members of parliament publicly denounced Saddam's trial as an American-orchestrated "kangaroo court." ¶2. (C) Most of post's contacts, however, were unmoved by the news. A University of Jordan professor told poloff that while all of his students were opposed to the U.S. presence in Iraq, only a few felt strongly about the long-expected verdict. The subject did not even come up during an Embassy dinner with political commentators in honor of DNI Negroponte. ¶3. (U) Columnists used a uniformly sarcastic tone in describing the trial, criticizing the timing of the sentencing and its legitimacy. Chief editor Taher Adwan of the independent, opposition Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Youm summed up the prevailing press reaction by arguing the trial was somehow illegitimate. "The trial did not take place in Al-Dujayl, the village concerned, but in the Green Zone under the spears of the Americans." Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ HALE