US embassy cable - 05ABUDHABI1331

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 001331 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, ASEC, QA, TC 
SUBJECT: UAE INCREASES SECURITY AFTER BOMBING IN QATAR, 
EXPATRIATE COMMUNITY CONCERNED, NOT PANICKED 
 
 
Classified By: Richard Albright, Charge D'Affaires, a.i., for reasons 1 
.4 (b) and (d). 
 
 1. (C) Summary: After the Doha theater bombing, UAE 
officials markedly increased the security presence throughout 
the cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai in locations such as 
diplomatic communities, western schools, and residential 
neighborhoods.  UAEG officials are worried they are 
vulnerable to this type of attack.  Local, diplomatic, and 
expatriate contacts are concerned that an attack could occur 
in the UAE, but there is not a sense of an imminent threat. 
End summary. 
 
2. (S) An advisor to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin 
Zayed told Charge March 22 that the Doha bombing had not so 
much altered the underlying security situation as it had 
brought home the reality that terrorists could lay hidden and 
dormant for a long time before striking.  While he could 
point to no new or specific threat information, he 
highlighted a longstanding vulnerability -- that the UAE,s 
80 percent expatriate population and easy access could 
provide fertile ground for potential terrorists.  To counter 
the possibility that they might now activate, the UAEG had 
taken the decision to boost security around the country.  He 
stated that Dubai was the city they were most concerned 
about, because it was target rich and because Dubai is so 
loose about issuing visas.  The advisor was critical of 
Qatar,s security services, which he viewed as much less 
effective than those of the UAEG. 
 
3. (C) ARSO learned from an Abu Dhabi police official that 
the Chief of Police had called an unprecedented meeting of 
his police commanders to underscore the seriousness with 
which the UAE government has taken the incident in Doha and 
to order internal police presence to the highest state of 
alert in recent years.  The contact cited increased patrols 
of traffic police, protection police (Harasat), and plain 
clothes police (CID) around area schools and diplomatic 
missions.  Regarding the country,s critical infrastructure, 
such as desalianation plants and oil refineries, he said that 
they have bolstered security around these areas "like never 
before." 
 
4. (C) ConGen Dubai security contacts, both in State Security 
(SSD) and the regular police, indicated that they were 
exercising greater vigilance in the aftermath of the Doha 
bombing, including increasing the numbers of patrols in 
Dubai's expat neighborhoods.  One senior SSD contact 
expressed concern that the bomber -- a middle-aged Egyptian, 
with a decent job, who had resided in Doha for some time -- 
did not match the normal profile of a potential terrorist. 
He noted, however, that the GCC security forces share 
information, and expressed hope that the investigation in 
Doha would provide information that might be useful in the 
UAE, too. 
 
5. (C) UAE special forces laid on double the normal 
protection for the visit of CENTAF Commander Buchanan for his 
March 21-22 visit.  Embassy employees have commented on the 
increased patrols around the city, and our surveillance 
detection team has reported a significant increase in police 
patrols around the diplomatic quarter.  The UAEG also 
responded rapidly to the Embassy,s request for increased 
police presence at the chancellery and at the two American 
schools.  They also boosted police presence at other western 
schools.  One Embassy employee reported that two CCTV cameras 
were installed this week in a parking lot adjacent to his 
residential compound.  RSO has learned that this compound is 
adjacent to a prominent Sheikh,s meeting area (Majlis) and 
is probably the reason for the recent installation of the 
cameras. 
 
6. (C) In a March 23 meeting of the Counter Terrorism Action 
Group (CTAG) organized by the UK Embassy (to be reported 
septel), western diplomats observed that UAE officials are 
staying vigilant, but not panicking.  The French DCM 
characterized UAE security officials as "serene" in their 
confidence that nothing will happen in the UAE.  The Canadian 
political officer noted that UAE officials believe they are 
more vulnerable to an attack like this week's bombing in 
Doha, as opposed to the type of extremist activity that 
occurred in Kuwait in January. 
 
7. (C) The attack in neighboring Qatar left expatriates and 
UAE nationals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai worried that the UAE 
could be next.  Some of our regular contacts talked about 
prominent targets and Western interests that terrorists might 
attack in hopes of frightening away expatriates and 
destabilizing the country,s economy.  CG Dubai spoke to 
American businessmen at an American Business Community (ABC) 
reception March 22.  The consensus seemed to be that while 
there was concern about the Doha incident and what it might 
mean for Dubai, there was no sense of fear or panic among 
Americans. An Emirati gold and jewelry merchant told CG March 
22 that the Doha explosion had caused a big stir in Dubai in 
part because the Briton who was killed in the explosion had 
lived in Dubai for years, working as a schoolteacher. 
 
7. (SBU) The European Union chiefs of mission jointly decided 
to maintain their assessed threat level as a "high threat." 
Individually, several Embassies issued warden messages to 
their communities, but none reissued travel advisories in 
response to the attack in Doha.  UK DCM reported that some 
British citizens have called the British Embassy asking for 
advice, but most of the diplomats present at the CTAG meeting 
said that their expatriate communities are remaining calm and 
do not seem to be overly concerned. 
 
8. (S) COMMENT:  The UAEG appears determined to do everything 
possible to deter terrorist attacks here.  It is taking the 
Doha bombing as a warning and reacting with a visible 
increase in security.  We are seeing no signs of panic here. 
Mission security contacts in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are 
projecting calm determination. 
ALBRIGHT