US embassy cable - 04ABUDHABI2864

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 002864 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/FO, NEA/NGA, NEA/ARP AND SA/PB 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/14 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, MARR, TC 
SUBJECT: UAE ASSISTANCE TO IRAQ 
 
 
Classified by Ambassador Michele J. Sison, reasons 1.5 
(b) and (d). 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY:  Iraqi Vice President Dr. Ebrahim Al 
Jaafari discussed developments in Iraq and UAE 
assistance with Abu Dhabi Deputy Crown Prince and UAE 
Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Shaykh Mohammed 
bin Zayed (MbZ) on August 20 in Abu Dhabi.  On August 
21, Al Jaafari visited the headquarters of the UAE Red 
Crescent Authority (RCA), praising the UAE and the RCA 
for their support of the Iraqi people during and after 
the war.  END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------------------ 
POLITICAL/SECURITY COOPERATION 
------------------------------ 
 
2. (C)  Al Jaafari arrived in Abu Dhabi on August 20 
for talks with MbZ on the latest political and 
security developments in Iraq and continued 
strengthening of bilateral ties.  Although our contact 
at the Iraqi Embassy called the meeting a "courtesy 
call" and could not provide a readout of items 
discussed at the meeting, we understand they discussed 
ongoing UAE assistance to Iraq.  On the day of the 
visit, MbZ's Special Advisor, Yousef Al Otaiba, called 
USLO Chief to inform him that, during meetings with 
the Iraqi Chief of Staff last week, and as a result of 
a request from the Iraqi delegation, the UAE had 
agreed to donate 350 sets of Generation III Night 
Vision Goggles and gun-mounted sights to the Iraqi 
military.  (NOTE: The Embassy will be working this 
issue carefully to ensure that all third party 
transfer requirements are met. END NOTE)  Also, on the 
same day, the press widely reported that the UAE Air 
Force provided two C-130 transport planes to 
repatriate 145 Iraqi refugees who were living in 
Pakistan to Baghdad.  The initiative was a 
collaborative effort by several offices within the 
UAEG, the Pakistani Government, Iraq's Charge 
d'Affaires to Pakistan, the Red Cross, and the 
International Organization of Migration (IOM).  In 
addition to this goodwill gesture toward Iraq, Al 
Otaiba told Poloff that they agreed to provide the 
support because the UAE does all it can to assist the 
Pakistani Government.  Providing airlift support is 
only one way that the UAEG helps the Musharraf regime, 
he said.  He also noted that the refugees assisted 
were not linked to the UAE in any way.  Rather, 
Pakistani authorities selected those who were returned 
to Iraq.  The Iraqi Embassy also confirmed that they 
continue to work with the UAE and German governments 
to train Iraqi police in the UAE.  A division of 250- 
300 police will arrive in the UAE in one month for 
training, according to First Secretary Sabah Al Wali. 
Al Wali also said that Al Jaafari will return to the 
UAE on August 25 for additional official meetings. 
 
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RED CRESCENT AUTHORITY ASSISTANCE 
--------------------------------- 
 
3. (C) Al Jaafari visited the headquarters of the Red 
Crescent Authority on August 21.  He was accompanied 
by Qusay Mahdi Salih, Iraqi Charge d'Affaires to the 
UAE, and Dr. Adnan Al Asidi, the Secretary General of 
the Iraqi Red Crescent Society.  They were received by 
the UAE RCA Board Chairman, Khalifa Nasir Al Suwaidi, 
who briefed them on the RCA's activities.  Al Jaafari, 
who is also active in the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, 
praised the UAEG for its unstinting support for Iraq 
and its people.  He particularly pointed out the UAE's 
assistance in providing health care to Iraqi's sick 
and wounded, and thanked the UAE for donating the 
Shaykh Zayed Hospital in Baghdad.  Al Suwaidi stated 
to the press that the RCA was doing everything it 
could to boost cooperation with the Iraqi Government 
and the Iraqi RCA, and would continue to implement 
projects aimed at improving the humanitarian situation 
there.  Poloff learned during a meeting at the RCA 
last month that some of the projects it has already 
undertaken in Iraq include the refurbishment of 10 
hospitals, desalination projects in Basra, Umm Qasr, 
and Abul Khusaib, and building a field hospital and 
supplying medical staffing through the UAE Armed 
Forces.  On August 22, the media reported that a plane 
loaded with 35 tons of food and medical supplies would 
be flown to Baghdad the next day, marking the RCA's 
28th humanitarian airlift effort since the start of 
the war.  The report also stated that the RCA recently 
dispatched thousands of additional tons of 
humanitarian relief supplies to Iraq by land and sea, 
and that all RCA assistance projects are coordinated 
with Coalition forces, the Iraqi Government, and the 
UNRWA. 
 
4. (U) MINIMIZE CONSIDERED. 
 
SISON