VZCZCXRO5119
RR RUEHBC RUEHDH RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHAM #0308/01 0341127
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 031127Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6833
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 0635
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 6373
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0223
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 2023
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 5777
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC 0434
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0079

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000308 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2020 
TAGS: PGOV PINS ASEC JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN: ARRESTS SIGNAL NEW TOUGHNESS IN ISLAMIST 
STRONGHOLDS 
 
REF: A. 09 AMMAN 2770 
     ¶B. 09 AMMAN 2490 
     ¶C. 09 AMMAN 2451 
     ¶D. 09 AMMAN 1896 
 
Classified By: Ambassador R. Stephen Beecroft 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (U)  SUMMARY:  In a rare foray into coverage of Jordan's 
internal security, Jordanian media reported on January 31 and 
February 1 two separate security campaigns which have yielded 
over 550 arrests.  The first is a widely reported 
announcement by Jordan's Public Security Directorate (PSD) of 
over 500 arrests since November 2009 related to criminal 
activity, including theft and drug smuggling.  The second 
report by Jordan's Islamist Al Sabil newspaper indicates that 
security forces have arrested more than 50 "members of the 
salafi jihadist trend" in the last two weeks in an 
investigation connected to the December 30 suicide bombing in 
Khost, Afghanistan. 
 
¶2.  (C)  Contacts in Jordan's security forces say that the 
criminal arrests are intended to signal a new toughness in 
Jordan's "hot zones" -- areas in which Jordanian security 
have traditionally had low penetration.  Although the 
criminal arrests are not directly related to the Khost 
investigation arrests, Jordan's Islamists fear they are 
becoming increasingly pressured by security activity in their 
geographic strongholds.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
Criminal Arrests Push into Jordan's Hot Zones 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C)  Contacts in PSD and the Gendarmerie say the criminal 
investigations and arrests are designed to target areas in 
which security forces have lower levels of control, including 
Azraq, Ma'an, Salt, Zarqa, villages in the Jordan River 
valley, and the neighborhoods of Saheb in East Amman and 
Lubban in South Amman.  Likening these areas to mafia 
safe-havens, security contacts say that individuals suspected 
of larceny or drug smuggling can "disappear" there, protected 
by residents from investigation and arrest. 
 
¶4.  (C)  When security forces have tried to conduct 
investigations and arrests in these areas in the past, they 
have sometimes resulted in violent altercations between 
police and family or tribal factions as was the case in 
Ajloun in August 2009, (ref d), in the Hay Al Tafila 
neighborhood of East Amman in November 2009 (ref c), and in 
Ma'an in November 2009 (ref b). 
 
¶5.  (C)  Deputy Director of PSD for Training and Operations 
Brigadier General Moh'd Abdullah Al Raqqad told POLOff that 
in the current security campaign, PSD is focused on 
alleviating clashes through "intelligence-based policing," an 
approach where security monitors the movements of a person of 
interest, apprehending him while in transit to work or while 
the risk of family or tribal involvement is otherwise low. 
He said he was personally coordinating this effort with the 
Gendarmerie and the General Intelligence Directorate (GID). 
 
¶6.  (C)  (Comment:  Intelligence-based policing is certainly 
not new to Jordan's security forces.  It is likely the 
renewed effort has more to do with PSD asserting its 
leadership in coordinating related security agencies.  END 
COMMENT.) 
 
 
Islamists Fear Tighter Control in Salafist Strongholds 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶7.  (U)  In an separate report, the Islamist Al Sabil 
newspaper reported that at least 50 "salafist jihadists" had 
been arrested over two weeks, most from the cities of Salt 
and Zarqa.  Al Sabil originally said they had been arrested 
in an investigation of the January 14 attack on a convoy of 
Israeli diplomats in the Jordan River valley.  However, 
subsequent reports in Al Sabil and online sources said the 
investigation is in connection with the suicide bombing in 
Khost, Afghanistan. 
 
 
AMMAN 00000308  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶8.  (C)  Contacts at PSD told POLOff that the unusual public 
announcement of the criminal arrests was meant to distinguish 
it and PSD from the terror investigation in which they said 
PSD was not directly involved.  "These investigations are not 
related," one contact said.  "Ours started months ago and we 
want the public to know that." 
 
¶9.  (C)  Still, Jordan's Islamists fear they are coming under 
increased scrutiny.  Journalist and commentator Mohammed Abu 
Rumman, a former member of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood (JMB) 
who maintains professional contact with the JMB and the 
Islamic Action Front (IAF), told POLOff that PSD's criminal 
crackdown is striking at the heart of the Islamist movement's 
geographic base in Jordan.  The arrests, investigations, and 
intelligence-gathering that led to it, he said, will result 
in better cooperation between security forces and local 
residents, break their traditional silence with security, and 
afford PSD better insight into criminal and non-criminal 
activity there. 
 
¶10.  (C)  "Whether or not this is (PSD's) goal, the movement 
knows what will happen," he said intimating that the criminal 
crackdown could also be used as a cover for broader 
investigation and intimidation of Islamists. 
 
 
PSD in the Press, But Gendarmerie in Driver's Seat 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶11. (C)  The security campaign also highlights an emerging 
pattern in the cooperation between the PSD and Gendarmerie in 
sensitive and high-risk arrests (ref a).  According to PSD 
officials, the Gendarmerie is supporting PSD by providing 
perimeter security and riot control when necessary as PSD 
conducts arrest operations. 
 
¶12.  (C)  Gendarmerie officials tell a different story.  They 
say the Gendarmerie is in charge of pre-operation 
intelligence gathering and arrest operations.  Suspects are 
then being turned over to PSD custody for questioning, 
detention, and processing to a criminal trial once 
apprehended by the Gendarmerie. 
 
¶13.  (C)  Press reports made no mention of the Gendarmerie's 
role in the criminal security campaign, citing only the PSD 
statements.  A Gendarmerie official commented on that 
observation:  "PSD is waving his hand from the window, but Al 
Darak (the Gendarmerie) is driving the car." 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶14.  (C)  Following a series of violent clashes between 
tribes and police in 2009, Jordan's security forces are 
coming under increased pressure to improve security and 
control in the toughest parts of the country, fix interagency 
cooperation problems, eliminate altercations that make 
headlines, and show results quickly.  That pressure is likely 
coming from the highest levels of government and has 
intensified since the December 2009 Cabinet reshuffle in 
which the Gendarmerie director was sacked.  (The PSD director 
has so far dodged a similar move to replace him.)  The 
differences in account between PSD and Gendarmerie officials 
on this recent security campaign underscores that mistrust 
endures as their relationship continues to evolve.  According 
to observers of Jordan's Islamist movement, many in the 
movement are resigned that the jockeying between PSD and 
Gendarmerie may come at their expense. 
 
Beecroft