US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI4835

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 004835 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO FOR NEA/NGA, NEA/PD AND NEA/ARP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/13 
TAGS: KPAO, PGOV, PREL, IZ, TC 
SUBJECT:  IRAQI EXPATS: U.S. NEEDS TO LISTEN TO 
IRAQIS AGAIN, SET UP OBJECTIVE IRAQI 
SATELLITE TV 
 
Ref: A) Abu Dhabi 1750, B) Abu Dhabi 1624 
 
(U) Classified by Richard A. Albright, Charge 
d'Affaires, a.i., for Reasons 1.5 (B) and (D). 
 
1. (C) Summary: We recently met with two 
prominent Iraqi expats in the UAE.  They 
recommended that the Coalition move quickly to 
establish an Iraqi satellite TV station to beam 
more balanced coverage of Iraqi developments to 
the Arab world.  They wanted a new UN resolution 
that would solve the issue of compensation to 
Kuwait decreed by Security Council resolution 
1483.  They criticized the Coalition for not 
sealing Iraq's borders to prevent foreign 
resistance fighters from entering, and ex- 
Baathists from escaping.  They also expressed 
concern that the U.S. is not doing as good a job 
of listening to its Iraqi friends' advice as it 
did before the war.  The expats told us that the 
new Iraqi Ambassador in Abu Dhabi views the 
Coalition as a force of occupation.  End 
summary. 
 
2. (C) Polchief and senior PAO FSN visited with 
two members of the large Iraqi expat community 
in the UAE on October 25.  In contrast to our 
last meetings with them in April (see refs A and 
B), the expats were more critical of the 
Coalition, but in the spirit of friendship, they 
continued to offer suggestions for improving the 
situation in Iraq.  Dr. Ala'a Al-Tamimi was a 
senior official in the Iraqi Ministry of 
Industry until he fled the country in August 
1991.  After spending several years in Jordan, 
he transferred to the UAE where he works for the 
Abu Dhabi Department of Planning.  Al-Tamimi, a 
Sunni who hails from Fallujah, told us he 
designed and oversaw the construction of one of 
Saddam's bunkers on the Tigris.  Dr. Niazi 
Sadiq, a surgeon, has lived in the UAE for 
thirty years and hails from Baghdad.  He is a 
Shi'a. 
 
3. (C) Ala'a told us that he had traveled to 
Iraq recently and that based on what he saw, he 
concluded that the war was over.  In his view, 
the current violence is an unsophisticated, 
isolated, resistance carried out in large part 
by Sunnis who converted to Wahhabism.  Niazi 
agreed that the war to oust Saddam is over, but 
said a new war has begun involving outside 
parties, such as France, Germany, and Russia. 
Niazi theorized that the countries that opposed 
the Coalition in the first place now want to see 
the Coalition become bogged down in Iraq.  He 
said he doubted Saddam "has the smarts" to carry 
out a well-orchestrated resistance. 
 
4. (C) Our interlocutors urged the Coalition to 
quickly establish an Iraqi satellite TV station 
offering balanced coverage of Iraqi developments 
to Arab audiences.  Arabs need an alternative to 
Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, they said.  They were 
critical of Abu Dhabi TV for allowing former 
Iraqi Minister of Information Al Sahaf far more 
airtime than they do for other Iraqi points of 
view.  Ala'a said he has written letters 
complaining about Abu Dhabi TV's broadcasts of 
Al Sahaf, but to no avail.  "All we want is 
equal time," he added. 
 
5. (C) The expats also want the UN to deal with 
the issue of Iraqi compensation for Kuwait 
decreed by UNSC resolution 1483.  They were 
thankful for the multi-billion dollar pledges in 
Madrid, but said the compensation issue also 
needs to be resolved.  "The Iraqi people think 
they have to pay for something that was done 
against their will," Ala'a told us.  "The U.S. 
should push Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to give up 
pursuing this compensation." 
 
6. (C) Niazi and Ala'a were generally critical 
of Coalition actions in Iraq since the end of 
the war.  They said it was a mistake to disband 
the Iraqi army and police force because it left 
many without a way to earn a living, and may 
have led some to join the armed resistance. 
They urged the Coalition to give Iraqis more 
control over the security apparatus by training 
Iraqis rather than introducing foreign troops, 
such as those from Turkey, into Iraq.  "Iraqis 
were against Saddam Hussein," Ala'a said.  "Had 
we wanted to fight with him, the U.S. would 
still be at Umm Qasr."  Our interlocutors also 
said it was a mistake to allow individuals such 
as Mohammed Saeed Al Sahaf, Mohammed Al Douri, 
Dhafer Al Aani, Shaker Hamed, and the daughters 
and family of Saddam Hussein, to leave Iraq 
instead of turning them over to the Iraqi 
justice system.  Furthermore, they criticized 
the Coalition for not sealing Iraq's borders at 
the time of the conflict to prevent foreign 
resistance fighters from entering, and ex- 
Baathists from escaping.  "All the people who 
wanted to fight the U.S. flooded in," Ala'a 
said.  One of the best steps the Coalition could 
take is to begin listening to the advice of 
Iraqi friends again, Niazi said.  "Before the 
war, the U.S. wanted to listen to Iraqis.  Now, 
you won the war.  Why don't you want to beat the 
terrorists?" 
 
7. (SBU) The Iraqi expats told us they were pleased 
to have a functioning Iraqi Embassy in Abu Dhabi 
that, "for once, serves the interests of the Iraqi 
people instead of the interests of Saddam Hussein." 
However, the career diplomat who is serving as 
their ambassador still worries them.  In a meeting 
with Iraqi expats, Ambassador Qusai Mahdi Saleh 
reportedly referred to the Coalition as a "force of 
occupation."  The expats corrected him by saying 
the Coalition was "a force of liberation." 
 
ALBRIGHT