VZCZCXRO7568
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #4965/01 1091036
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191036Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2949
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHJA/ISLAMIC CONFERENCE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 9341
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 0172
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 0758
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 0027
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 004965 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PTER KPAL ID IS
SUBJECT: SEMI-UNHINGED PALESTINIAN AMBASSADOR ALLEGES ABU 
NIDAL GROUP STAGED "EMBASSY COUP D'ETAT" 
 
REF: STATE 50417 (PLO CONTACTS) 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: Ordered by the new Hamas-led Palestinian 
Authority to leave his post after 14 years, Palestinian 
Ambassador to Indonesia Ribhi Awad is not going quietly and 
his ravings are providing mirth for the diplomatic corps and 
a protocol headache for the Indonesian government.  In antics 
that GOI Foreign Ministry officials characterized privately 
as "embarrassing," Awad sent two bizarre "Top Urgent" 
diplomatic notes to the GOI and diplomatic corps alleging 
that he had valiantly fought off an "embassy coup d'etat" by 
a ranking member of the Abu Nidal group, who just a few weeks 
earlier had been Awad's trusted assistant and now claims to 
be Charge d'Affaires.  The hijinx continued in an April 18 
press conference in which Awad brandished a pistol, glowered 
at a pack of chortling journalists, and demanded that he be 
accorded ambassadorial status until he departs Indonesia, a 
day that apparently cannot come soon enough for the 
Indonesian Foreign Ministry.  End Summary. 
 
Power Flows from the Barrel of a Seal 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Ribhi Awad has been the Palestinian Authority's 
official representative to Indonesia since 1992.  During that 
time he acquired an Indonesian spouse about half his age and 
two young children.  He also acquired, through sheer 
attrition, the title of dean of the ambassador corps, a 
distinction upon which he has stood with all the 
self-effacing modesty of a megalomaniacal Bourbon monarch for 
the past several years.  As a member of the Fatah 
organization, however, Awad's fortunes took a fateful turn 
with the recent election of a Hamas-led PA government, which 
ordered Awad to relinquish his duties and return to his 
homeland. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Push has apparently come to shove within the 
Palestinian Mission, as Awad sent two frenzied "Top Urgent" 
diplomatic notes last week to the GOI Foreign Ministry and 
all diplomatic missions in Jakarta.  The first note alleged 
that Nassar Abdul Wahab, Awad's one-time trusted assistant, 
had attempted an "embassy coup de etat" (sic) against Awad 
but the putsch failed when Awad somehow managed to retain 
control of the all-important embassy seal.  The second 
missive, a rambling and often incoherent seven-page 
handwritten "circular," alleged that Wahab was an agent of 
the Abu Nidal terrorist group who, along with two 
"disciples," had resumed efforts to "dislodge" Awad from his 
office and had held him hostage for a time.  Although Awad 
claimed to have retained full control of the mission, we note 
that the letter did not bear an imprint of the embassy seal 
to which Awad had previously placed such paramount 
importance.  Meanwhile, Wahab has informed the GOI that he is 
the Charge d'Affaires ad interim after Awad's "retirement." 
 
Long Good-bye for a Pistol-Toting Diplomat? 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The Awad saga took an even more bizarre turn on 
April 18.  After a brief farewell call on GOI Foreign 
Minister Hassan Wirajuda - according to a Foreign Ministry 
staffer, the press were deliberately excluded from the event 
for fear of encouraging even more theatrics from the portly, 
sixty-something Palestinian diplomat - Awad held a press 
conference at his mission in which he glowered at a pack of 
chortling journalists and brandished a pistol.  (We note that 
Awad's ambassadorial pistol has seen service before, 
according to senior Jakarta diplomats.  As the story goes, 
some years ago Awad's vehicle suffered a flat tire.  As is 
common, an Indonesian man volunteered to change the flat and 
then asked for compensation for his efforts.  Awad refused to 
tip the man, pulled out the firearm and - when the man became 
too insistent - allegedly shot him in the foot).  Awad also 
demanded that he be accorded full ambassadorial status until 
he departs Indonesia.  That day apparently cannot come soon 
enough for the Indonesian Foreign Ministry: a staffer 
characterized Awad's antics and the underlying embassy 
succession scuffle as "childish" and "embarrassing" and 
stated that the GOI simply wants Awad and the Palestinian 
flap to go away.  The Indonesians may have to wait awhile, 
however.  Although Awad stated in his "circular" that he 
would leave on May 19, he told the media that his departure 
 
JAKARTA 00004965  002 OF 002 
 
 
date had been pushed back to May 30 and was contingent on the 
publication of four books he claims to be in the process of 
writing. 
PASCOE