JORDAN,S ISLAMISTS OPPOSE POPE,S MAY 8 VISIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 000990 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/30/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL SCUL KISL JO SUBJECT: JORDAN,S ISLAMISTS OPPOSE POPE,S MAY 8 VISIT Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Lawrence Mandel for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Islamists from Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing have publicly opposed the Pope's planned May 8-11 visit to the Kingdom. Government officials have denounced the published criticisms and continue to plan for the visit. Christian leaders privately say that criticism from the Islamist camp does not pose a serious threat to the visit or its goals. End Summary. ¶2. (U) The spokesman for Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, Jamil Abu Bakr, issued an April 19 statement asking the Vatican to postpone Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming visit. The statement, published on the website of its political wing, the Islamic Action Front (IAF),called on the Pope to apologize for a 2006 lecture deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammed and to Islam. Abu Bakr also called on the Pope to visit Gaza rather than a Holocaust memorial in Israel as planned, particularly in view of Israeli operations in Gaza. In a separate statement, IAF leader Hamzah Mansour added that any visit by the Pontiff to Israel should be tied to a freeze on Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories. ¶3. (C) Beyond their original publication, the statements failed to garner much traction in the press or web media. Christian leaders of all sects did not see the statements by Islamists as a threat. A prominent member of the Eastern Orthodox Church and former MP, Odeh Qawas, told PolOff that the IAF would have been more successful by supporting the visit while calling upon the Pope to intercede in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Christian contacts welcomed the Pope's visit, but downplayed to PolOff its political and religious significance, viewing it as an opportunity to promote Jordan as a tourist destination and to encourage the government to approve requests to open Christian schools and universities. Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman Beecroft