ISLAMIST FIGURE SPARKS DEBATE OVER ENGAGING THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 000677

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2019
TAGS: PREL PHUM PTER KISL JO
SUBJECT: ISLAMIST FIGURE SPARKS DEBATE OVER ENGAGING THE
U.S.

REF: AMMAN 0197

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


1. (U) Public debate has arisen in Jordan over the late
February visit to the United States of the deputy Secretary
General of the Islamic Action Front (IAF),which is the
political wing of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood. IAF figure
Ruheil Gharaibeh traveled to Washington to take part in a
February 26 seminar, "Strategies for Engaging Political
Islam," organized by the Project on Middle East Democracy
(POMED). During the seminar, Gharaibeh reportedly called for
the United States to: stop supporting "despotic regimes;"
grant money and financial assistance with conditions to
ensure tangible change; adopt an "even-handed" policy on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and combat racism and extremism
by studying its causes.


2. (U) Gharaibeh's travel to the States and his comments
sparked an ongoing debate in the Jordanian press about
Islamists' relationship with the USG. The main Government
newspaper, Al-Rai, criticized Gharaibeh for apparently
promising not to meet with official Americans while in the
States but then proposing to members of "U.S. national
institutions" the need to establish a broad national front to
transform Jordan. (Note: Gharaibeh met with Congressional
staffers and spoke on a panel moderated by Nathan Brown,
Director of the Institute of Middle East Studies at George
Washington University. Also on the panel were Shadi Hamid,
Director of Research at POMED; Mona Yacoubian of the U.S.
Institute of Peace; and Zoe Nautre, Visiting Fellow at the
German Council on Foreign Relations. End note.)


3. (U) Independent opposition daily Arab Al-Yawm columnist
Fahd Khitan argued in a March 10 editorial that the problem
was not the IAF's engagement with the Americans, but its
discourse that is marked by complete hostility, contradicting
the truth of their position. Khitan asserted the Islamists
should "fine-tune" their rhetoric and announce that their
differences with U.S. policy do not amount to "estrangement."
Khitan also observed that opposition parties look abroad for
support when harassed inside their own country and that real
debate about political reform within Jordan would take away
the need to discuss the matter outside the country.


4. (C) The Ministry of Interior contacted the Embassy
Protocol Office when news broke of Gharaibeh's trip to
confirm that he was granted a visa and to enquire whether he
had been invited by the USG. (Note: Gharaibeh had already
traveled to Washington, and Post did not respond to the
inquiry. End Note.) Royal Court Chief Nasser Al-Lozi told
the Ambassador on March 11 that the GOJ is not concerned
about the coverage of Gharaibeh's comments since the focus in
the press up until that point had been on the perceived
hypocrisy of the IAF for seeking to engage the U.S.


5. (SBU) By way of background, Post does not meet with IAF
officials, who hold six seats in Parliament. The IAF
Secretary General sent POTUS a congratulatory message via the
U.S. Embassy to the President on January 21, urging him to be
"open to suggestions and willing to debate the political
forces that represent the Islamic world." (reftel)

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Beecroft