JORDANIAN GID'S DAHABI REPLACED WITH A SPECIALIST

S E C R E T AMMAN 003405

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ELA AND INR/B

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/30/2028
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR JO
SUBJECT: JORDANIAN GID'S DAHABI REPLACED WITH A SPECIALIST
ON INTERNAL ISSUES

REF: A. AMMAN 3365

B. AMMAN 3164

C. AMMAN 2781

D. AMMAN 2424

Classified By: Ambassador R. Stephen Beecroft for reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d)


1. (S) In a development surprising for its timing, given
intense ongoing public and parliamentary anger at Israel's
raids on Gaza, Lieutenant General Muhammad Al-Dahabi has been
replaced as Director of the General Intelligence Department,
ending just over three years in the post. A Royal Decree
issued on December 29 appointed Major General Muhammad
Rath'an Al-Raqqad as his replacement. Some EMBASSY contacts
speculated that he was dismissed because of his handling of
Gaza-related demonstrations. The step comes as other rumors
swirl about an imminent cabinet shakeup (Ref A). The post of
GID Director is among the most influential positions outside
the King's family, affecting issues of internal order and
reform, sensitive external relations, and counterterrorism.
Civil society contacts saw the conservative Dahabi as one of
the main obstacles to reform within the government.


2. (S) Dahabi has been in the limelight over the past
several months after it was publicly revealed that Jordan -
with the GID and Dahabi at the helm - reopened talks with the
Hamas movement in several encounters in Jordan with Mohammad
Nazzal, a member of the Hamas political office in Damascus
(Refs B-D). This was the first publicly acknowledged
high-level meeting between the GOJ and the Palestinian
faction since 1999, when the authorities closed the Hamas
office in Jordan and deported its leaders.


3. (C) Dahabi's successor appears to have risen through the
ranks quickly of late, having been recently promoted to Major
General and before that from Colonel to Brigadier following
his successes in dismantling cells of the Al-Tawhid Brigades
Organization that had targeted GID headquarters and other
government offices in 2004. He had served as GID director in
Irbid. He had distinguished himself in the handling of the
elections held last year, when he served as GID pointman with
the Ministry of Interior. Raqqad, who is of solid Bedouin
stock, was born in Sahab, southeast of Amman, and is married
with children. He holds a BA in History.


4. (S) Comment: Given Raqqad's past focus on internal issues
while at GID and his impeccable Bedouin credentials, his
selection may to a certain extent reflect a growing concern
by the King about stability in Jordan. End Comment

Visit Amman's Classified Website at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman
Beecroft