JORDAN: DINNER PARTY RESULTS IN UNEXPECTED MEETING

S E C R E T AMMAN 001758 SIPDIS NOFORN E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/04/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV KISL JO SUBJECT: JORDAN: DINNER PARTY RESULTS IN UNEXPECTED MEETING WITH ISLAMIST POLITICIANS Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Lawrence Mandel for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (S/NF) PolChief and PolOff were invited to the home of a Jordanian newspaper columnist on August 3. Unbeknownst to us, the host, a regular political section interlocutor, had also invited two active members of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood (JMB) and its political wing, the Islamic Action Front (IAF). The details of the discussion and its potential implications will be sent septel. ¶2. (S/NF) The two other guests were Nabil Al-Kofahi, the Islamist mayor of Irbid from 1999 to 2001. The son of a well-known member of parliament, Kofahi currently serves on the Shura Council of the JMB and IAF. Ruhail Gharaibeh, a former Islamist MP and university professor, is currently the spokesman of the JMB and serves on the Shura Council of the IAF. Both are considered to be part of the moderate wing of the Islamist movement in Jordan. Mandel