US embassy cable - 05ABUDHABI713

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 000713 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
 
NSC FOR PATRICK HEFFERNAN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2015 
TAGS: IR, IZ, PREL, PTER, SA, TC 
SUBJECT: WHITE HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISOR FRAN 
TOWNSEND MEETS UAE STATE SECURITY DIRECTOR 
 
Classified By: (U) Classified by Ambassador Michele J. Sison for reason 
s 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (S) Summary.  In a February 7 meeting with HSC Homeland 
Security Advisor Frances Townsend, the Director of UAE State 
Security Department (SSD), Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, 
expressed support for U.S. efforts regarding the 
Israeli/Palestinian situation.  Sheikh Hazza also said that 
the UAEG desired a diplomatic solution to the problems in 
Iran regarding state sponsorship of terrorism and nuclear 
weapons development.  In a discussion about the roots of 
terrorism, Sheikh Hazza explained that the UAE is working to 
help mosques serve as positive education centers so that they 
do not become breeding grounds for extremism.  He also stated 
that in order to prevent charitable donations from funding 
terrorist activity, the UAE has established 
government-monitored donation locations so that charitable 
giving is regulated and disbursements are controlled. 
Finally, Sheikh Hazza thanked the U.S. for its cooperation 
with the SSD, and he noted that he wishes to enhance the 
cooperation between the UAE and the other GCC security 
services.  On Hizbollah, Sheikh Hazza agreed to ongoing 
operational cooperation in the UAE targeting Hizbollah and 
Iranian MOIS.  End summary. 
 
2. (S//NF) Meeting participants included senior members from 
the SSD, EB Assistant Secretary Anthony Wayne, DCM Albright, 
NSC and S/CT staffers, RMAS chief, and econoff. 
 
Middle East Peace Process 
------------------------- 
 
3. (U) Sheikh Hazza said that he trusts the U.S. and knows we 
are doing the best we can to advance peace between Israel and 
the Palestinians.  The UAEG recognizes that the Palestinian 
leadership needs international assistance to gain legitimacy 
and to counter HAMAS and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.  UAE 
leaders want play a positive role in this process.  The 
Palestinian people are suffering, he said, and the UAE, with 
its sizable Palestinian population, wants to help stabilize 
the situation and provide assistance to Palestinians in need. 
 Townsend thanked the UAEG for its leadership on the 
Palestinian issue, and she stressed U.S. commitment to 
working toward a two-state solution. 
 
Iran 
---- 
 
4.  (S) Townsend emphasized that Iran must stop sponsoring 
terrorism and cease its support of Hizballah.  We cannot let 
them be the spoiler of the peace process.  She added that the 
U.S. would appreciate any assistance the UAE could provide in 
this regard.  Sheikh Hazza observed that his government hopes 
for a diplomatic solution to the problems with Iran.  He 
emphasized that any confrontation with Iran would cause 
internal problems in the UAE, due to Iran,s proximity and 
the UAE,s large Iranian community.  Sheikh Hazza said the 
UAE is concerned there may be a U.S. military confrontation 
over Iran,s nuclear weapons program.  He referred to a 
newspaper article that said Iran would unleash terrorism with 
&ten million suicide bombers8 if the U.S. attacked Iran. 
Townsend reassured Sheikh Hazza that the United States is 
committed to solving the situation with Iran diplomatically, 
but needs UAE assistance with both intelligence and 
diplomacy. 
 
5. (S//NF) Sheikh Hazza told Townsend that his government 
recognizes Iran is developing nuclear weapons, and he assured 
her that the UAEG is aggressively working with RMAS to stop 
any suspected transshipments through the UAE of nuclear 
weapons components to Iran. 
 
Muslim Extremism / Terrorist Financing 
-------------------------------------- 
 
6. (C) Discussing the sources of extremism, Sheikh Hazza 
described challenges facing imams in mosques throughout the 
region.  He noted that imams are responsible for seeing to 
every aspect of a mosque,s operations ) from the sermons 
down to the cleaning ) and that they do not always have time 
to focus on preventing people from exploiting their mosques. 
He explained that many of the young men who end up involved 
with terrorists are not intrinsically bad people.  They are 
simply devoted Muslims that get drawn into and exploited by 
extremist circles.  To address this challenge, he said, the 
UAEG had initiated programs to assist imams and help develop 
mosques into positive education centers.  (Note: In the UAE, 
all Sunni imams are employees of the individual emirates or 
of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs, and 
Endowments, which draft, distribute, and monitor their 
sermons and regulate their actions.) 
7. (C) Sheikh Hazza observed that Muslims, generosity and 
their required zakat (charitable giving) has inadvertently 
continued to provide terrorists with financial support.  He 
said that with so many charities and ways that people can 
donate money, ordinary people often do not know that their 
donations are going to support terrorism.  Sheikh Hazza said 
that the UAEG had established Zakat Houses * donation 
locations where the government ensures the money is 
distributed to legitimate causes.  Although these houses were 
established two years ago, he acknowledged that it takes 
people time to get used to these new donation sites and that 
it was possible that people were still donating money to 
individual fundraisers or charities that may not be following 
regulations, including the required registration with the 
UAEG.  This was a matter of continued focus for his service. 
 
8. (C) In addition to expressing appreciation for UAEG 
efforts to ensure that charities are not abused by 
terrorists, Townsend thanked Sheikh Hazza for UAEG leadership 
on regulating cash couriers and hawaladars.  She told him 
that during her meetings with Saudi officials at the recent 
counterterrorism conference in Riyadh, she had encouraged the 
Saudis to approach the UAE for guidance on how to address the 
challenge of regulating cash couriers. 
 
USG/UAE and UAE/Regional Cooperation 
----------------------------------- 
 
9. (S) Sheikh Hazza told Townsend that he was very grateful 
for the level of cooperation and the close relationship 
between the SSD and the USG.  He said that cooperation and 
trust are excellent, and that whenever the SSD needs 
assistance, he knows he can ask for it. He also said that he 
wants to enhance the cooperation between his service and the 
other security services in the Gulf.  He noted that the 
Saudis do not release information about their citizens to UAE 
officials, and he said that it is particularly important that 
the SAG share this information when suspected Saudi 
extremists move around in the region. 
 
Atmospherics 
------------ 
 
10. (S)  Sheikh Hazza and Townsend quickly established a 
comfortable rapport, picking up threads of their conversation 
from their last meeting in October 2004.  The atmosphere of 
the meeting was warm and relaxed, and Sheikh Hazza went out 
of his way to underscore the commonality of our interests and 
the closeness of the relationship with the Embassy. 
 
11. (U) This cable has been cleared by Homeland Security 
Advisor Townsend and Assistant Secretary for Economic and 
Business Affairs Wayne. 
SISON