US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI4546

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 004546 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ARP, NEA/IPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/13 
TAGS: PREL, IZ, TC 
SUBJECT:  A/S BURNS' OCTOBER 5 MEETINGS WITH MFA 
MINSTATE HAMDAN BIN ZAYED AND ARMED FORCES COS 
MUHAMMAD BIN ZAYED 
 
(U) Classified by Ambassador Marcelle M. Wahba, 
Reasons 1.5 (B) and (D). 
 
1. (S) SUMMARY:  NEA Assistant Secretary met 
separately in Abu Dhabi on October 5 with MFA Minstate 
Hamdan Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (HbZ) and with UAE Armed 
Forces Chief of Staff LTG Shaykh Muhammad bin Zayed 
Al-Nahyan (MbZ).  Information Minister Shaykh Abdullah 
Bin Zayed attended the meeting with Shaykh Muhammad. 
Burns was accompanied by the Ambassador and Polchief 
(notetaker).  Topics covered included Iraq, 
Israel/Palestine, and Iran.  On Iraq, the Emiratis 
argued that the current governing system is simply not 
sustainable and proposed that the Iraqi Governing 
Council (GC) select a president to a one-year term to 
help stabilize the political process.  Hamdan 
expressed concern over the Israeli strike on Syrian 
soil, and said it was time Israel help the U.S. in 
return for all that the U.S. has done for Israel. 
 
2. (S) Hamdan, who will be in Washington in late 
October, agreed to A/S Burns' proposal to reschedule 
the U.S.-UAE bilateral Strategic Dialogue to the 
beginning of next year, using the next few months to 
hold a series of working sessions to achieve progress 
on a range of issues, including a Trade and Investment 
Framework Agreement, export controls, and ICC/Article 
98.  Burns thanked the UAE for assisting the Iraqi GC 
to be seated at the Arab League, and congratulated the 
Emiratis for hosting a successful IMF/World Bank 
summit in Dubai.  He expressed appreciation for the 
central UAE role in organizing the Madrid Donors 
Conference and urged a generous UAE financial package. 
He also applauded the UAE for progress in addressing 
the trafficking in persons problem.  HbZ told A/S 
Burns that they would be signing an MOU with Germany 
to train Iraqi police in the UAE.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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Iraq 
---- 
 
3. (S) Burns thanked HbZ and MbZ for their support on 
Iraq and especially their role in the Core Group's 
preparation for the Madrid conference.  HbZ and MbZ 
criticized the GC and Ahmed Chalabi in particular. 
"The problem now is that the Governing Council looks 
like your representative to the Iraqis, not the 
representative of Iraqis to you or the rest of the 
world," MbZ said.  In addition, most of them are not 
known to Iraqis and have zero credibility with Iraqis 
at large. 
 
4. (S) HbZ and MbZ urged the U.S. to seek ways to 
improve the GC's credibility and help stabilize the 
Iraqi political process.  They recommended the GC drop 
the policy of one-month rotating presidents and select 
a "broadly-acceptable" president to serve for a 
minimum of one year or until elections.  "We believe 
this can be a positive step to facilitate affairs in 
Iraq," HbZ said.  Work on a new Iraqi constitution 
could progress at the same time.  A/S Burns confirmed 
the U.S. commitment to rapid, orderly progress in the 
political process outlined by Ambassador Bremer, in 
addition to working for greater security and economic 
reconstruction. 
 
5. (C) HbZ said that during German Chancellor Schroeder's 
visit to Abu Dhabi this week, the two countries will sign 
an agreement to train new Iraqi police officers in the 
UAE.  Burns called this type of cooperation, which the 
Germans are financing, extremely helpful.  Burns briefed 
HbZ and MbZ on USG efforts within the Security Council to 
pass a resolution on Iraq.  Burns also briefed MbZ on 
efforts to encourage other nations to contribute troops 
in Iraq.  MbZ agreed with Burns that getting Iraqis back 
in uniform to take over the security of their country was 
vital.  MbZ told A/S Burns that he had received some 
inquiries from the French military about contributing to 
a multinational force in Iraq, in cooperation with the 
UAE.  Burns expressed considerable skepticism, but MbZ 
insisted that he sensed potential interest and would let 
us know if he heard more. 
 
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Middle East Roadmap 
------------------- 
 
6. (S) With the October 4 Haifa bombing and October 5 
Israeli attack inside Syrian territory as a backdrop, 
Burns briefed MbZ and HbZ on the status of the Middle 
East Roadmap, underscored President Bush's commitment 
to a two-state solution, and thanked the Emiratis for 
their humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian 
people.  In HbZ's view, the U.S. has done a lot to 
help Israel, and it is now Israel's duty and 
obligation to help the U.S.  "The vital interests of 
the U.S. are being negatively affected," HbZ said.  It 
is in everyone's interest that "the roadmap be 
implemented."  Burns and HbZ also agreed that Syria 
had made a serious miscalculation when, after the Iraq 
war started, it stepped up its assistance to the 
Hezbollah. 
 
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U.S.-UAE Bilateral Issues 
------------------------- 
 
7. (C) Both sides reaffirmed the importance of 
following up on last year's first bilateral U.S.-UAE 
Strategic Dialogue in Washington.  Burns suggested 
rescheduling the planned October 5-6 meetings to early 
2004, and using the next two to three months to 
achieve tangible progress on various bilateral issues, 
such as TIFA, export controls, Article 98, and MLAT. 
HbZ concurred.  Turning to the problem of trafficking 
in persons, Burns said that he had told Congress that 
the UAE's comprehensive campaign to address the issue 
was a model for other countries.  HbZ said the UAE's 
unprecedented move from Tier 3 to Tier 1 in the TIP 
means added responsibility for his country.  He spoke 
of the need to do more and for continued cooperation 
with the US to face the obstacles that lie ahead. 
 
8. (U) This cable was cleared by A/S Burns. 
 
WAHBA