JORDAN DENIES INTERNET REPORT ON MISSING FIGHTERS,

S E C R E T AMMAN 000047 NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2019 TAGS: MOPS PREL PTER KISL JO SUBJECT: JORDAN DENIES INTERNET REPORT ON MISSING FIGHTERS, PILOTS REF: OSC REPORT GMP20090105640003 Classified By: Ambassador R. Stephen Beecroft for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( d). ¶1. (S/NF) According to an Open Source Center (OSC) report, the jihadist Ana Al-Muslim website posted a report on January 5 that "a Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman stated that three warplanes disappeared" on January 4 as well as "five pilots, who have been described as having Islamic leanings." The pilots were identified by the website as Nidal As'ad Ubaydat, Muhammad Fadil Ubaydat, Nasir Jamal Al-Ma'awinah, Ali Abdallah Al-Rawashidah, and Mustafa Hasan Ubaydah. It stated further that this incident was noteworthy because it took place as Gaza was "under Israeli attack." ¶2. (U) Brigadier General Malek Al-Habashneh, Royal Jordanian Air Force Director of Air Operations, told Air Attache on January 5 that there is no truth to the website report. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson Nassar Al-Habashneh also denied the report. (Note: Brigadier General Habashneh and the MFA spokesperson are distant cousins. End note.) Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman Beecroft