US embassy cable - 05MUSCAT479

UNCLAS MUSCAT 000479 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, OPRC, XF, MU, Terrorism, International Relations 
SUBJECT: OMAN CONDEMNS QATAR TERROR ATTACK 
 
1. (U) The March 19 VBIED attack on a theater in Doha 
provoked swift condemnation by the Omani government.  A 
Foreign Ministry statement (most likely penned by Under 
Secretary Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi) released on March 20 
 
SIPDIS 
pledged the Sultanate's support for Qatar's security and its 
protection against "such acts of absurdity."  The Oman News 
Agency carried block quotes of the release.  "The Sultanate's 
Government also condoles the families of the victims, wishes 
swift recovery to those injured and prays to the Almighty to 
save the sisterly state of Qatar from harm.  The Sultanate 
calls on all states in the region and the world to unite 
against all acts of terrorism and work together to uproot the 
phenomenon wherever it exists."  Omani Arabic and English 
dailies gave full coverage of the MFA, GCC and other regional 
condemnations of the terror attack. 
 
2. (SBU) When the matter has come up in conversations with 
Emboffs, Omani contacts have been roundly critical of the 
attack.  State Council Vice President Shaykh Aflah al-Rawahi 
shook with anger and emotion when discussing the terror 
incident with a visiting US university official.  Submissions 
on the Internet message board Al Sablah, which rarely pass up 
an opportunity to lay blame on the USG, were uniform in 
denouncing the attack.  Moreover, contributors expressed 
concern that Oman could suffer a similar attack.  The March 
16 announcements allegedly from Saudi al-Qaeda figure Saleh 
al-Oufi specifically calling for attacks on Oman, Qatar, 
Bahrain, and UAE were frequently cited by worried writers, 
many of whom presumed that the US military presence in Qatar 
may have raised that country's profile among terrorists. 
BALTIMORE