US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI5132

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 005132 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO FOR NEA/NGA, NEA/PD AND NEA/ARP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/13 
TAGS: KPAO, PGOV, PREL, IZ, TC 
SUBJECT:  UAEG, Iraqi expats, welcome visiting Iraq 
Governing Council delegation 
 
Ref: Abu Dhabi 4835 
 
(U) Classified by Richard A. Albright, Charge d'Affaires, 
a.i., for Reasons 1.5 (B) and (D). 
 
1. (U) The UAE leadership once again put out the welcome 
mat for members of the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) during 
their visit to Abu Dhabi last week.  President Shaykh Zayed 
told the delegation November 26 that the UAE would always 
support the Iraqi people and called on Iraqis to work 
together to overcome their hardships.  According to the 
government's official news agency, Shaykh Zayed told the 
delegation that he had advised the United States to treat 
the Iraqis gently and strive to hand over power to them as 
soon as possible. 
 
2. (C) Two days earlier, on November 24, approximately 300 
members of the Iraqi expatriate community in the UAE had 
met with IGC members Ibrahim Al Jaafari and Adnan Pachachi 
to learn about latest trends in Iraq and to discuss their 
concerns.  The meeting, which two Iraqi liaison office 
staff had also attended, was in stark contrast to meetings 
Iraqi expats had had with Saddam's representatives in 
recent years -- if they even bothered to go. 
 
3. (C) Polchief and senior PAO FSN met November 29 with two 
Iraqi expats who are regular contacts of ours (see reftel) 
to get a readout of the meeting with Al Jaafari.  Dr. Ala'a 
Al-Tamimi, a former senior official in the Iraqi Ministry 
of Industry, and Dr. Niazi Sadiq, a surgeon, told us that 
they were very favorably impressed with Al Jaafari's 
leadership and intellectual abilities.  "We're proud that 
he is representing the Iraqi people.  The Baathists were 
ignorant and ill-tempered," Ala'a said.  Members of the 
audience could ask questions and identified themselves 
without fear.  Al Jaafari told the audience that there 
remained some security problems in Iraq, but people were 
free to speak their minds.  When a member of the audience 
criticized some members of the Iraqi liaison office staff 
of being Baathists and supporters of Saddam, Al Jaafari 
urged his listeners to be patient with those who are 
Baathists, but who have not committed any crimes.  However, 
if they are Baathists and are criminals, "we'll deal with 
them." 
 
4. (C) The expats told us that the Baathists outside of 
Iraq, including Saddam's former Information Minister 
Sahhaf, who regularly appears on Abu Dhabi Television, are 
well-financed and organized, and have access to the media. 
Ala'a and Niazi said Baathists go as far as saying that 
"Saddam was bad, but the U.S. is worse" in a bid to win 
sympathy and encourage resistance to the Coalition.  Non- 
Baathists are increasingly trying to counter the influence 
of Baathists by trying to persuade the Arabic language 
press to cease reporting only negative and anti-American 
articles and editorials.  Ala'a and Niazi said they hope 
the CPA will be able to assist with starting up an Iraqi 
satellite television station that will provide objective 
broadcasts both inside and outside Iraq. 
ALBRIGHT