US embassy cable - 05ABUDHABI4261

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 004261 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/I, AND NEA/ARPI, NEA/I, NEA/PPD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2010 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KDEM, IZ, TC 
SUBJECT: MINSTATE FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOSTING PROMINENT IRAQIS 
 
REF: ABU DHABI 4200 
 
Classified By: MARTIN R. QUINN, CHARGE D'AFFAIRES, A.I., REASONS 1.4 (B 
) AND (D). 
 
1. (C) Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of State for Foreign 
Affairs Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed (HbZ) is making good on his 
October 2 promise to U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Khalilzad to 
urge prominent Iraqi Sunni Arabs to engage positively on the 
draft constitution.  The former leader of the Sunni Waqf 
(Endowment), Adnan al-Dulaimi, was in the UAE last week.  The 
meeting with al-Dulaimi was "very positive," HbZ's chief 
aide, Sultan al-Romeithi, told Pol Chief.  Al-Dulaimi "took 
the message very well," he added.  Al-Dulaimi reportedly 
pledged to use all his power to influence Sunni Arabs in 
Iraq.  Current Sunni Waqf leader, Ahmed al-Ghaffour 
al-Samarrai, met with HbZ October 6, and Iraq's parliament 
speaker, Hajim al-Hassani, a Sunni Arab, met HbZ October 7. 
Both of those meetings reportedly were productive, 
al-Romeithi said.  The official news agency reported simply 
that HbZ and al-Hassani "explored avenues of cooperation and 
bilateral relations and ways to boost them."  (Note: While 
Ambassador Khalilzad's visit received press coverage, the 
press did not mention that HbZ had promised to invite Sunni 
Arabs to the UAE.  End note.) 
 
2. (C) Ambassador Khalilzad visited Abu Dhabi October 2 to 
urge HbZ and the UAE to support the Iraqi political process 
(reftel).  HbZ had also agreed that the UAEG would encourage 
Dubai-based Iraqi Sunni cleric Ahmed al-Kubaysi to issue a 
positive statement.  Al-Romeithi told there had not been any 
developments related to al-Kubaysi.  HbZ had also suggested 
that television stations such as Abu Dhabi TV and al-Arabiya 
could broadcast statements of support for the Iraqi political 
process to the Arab street.  Al-Romeithi reported that HbZ 
had had a discussion about this with his brother Abdallah, 
the Minister of Information, but al-Romeithi did not know if, 
or when, there would be a message broadcast on one or both 
stations.  Abu Dhabi TV, al-Arabiya, and Dubai TV have 
broadcast video clips from the Iraqi Government in recent 
days encouraging Iraqis to participate in the October 15 
constitutional referendum. 
 
Iraqi Expatriates Shut Out of Constitutional Referendum 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
3. (C) On October 10, Pol Chief asked Talib Khan, the 
chairman of the Iraqi Business Council of Abu Dhabi, about 
the political sentiments among the estimated 50,000 Iraqi 
expatriates in the UAE.  Khan said they ran the gamut.  "Some 
on our board are for, and some are against.  In general, 
people here think the process should go forward.  I would 
estimate that 20 percent (of Iraqi expatriates) are against 
the process for one reason or another."  Those reasons vary 
from fear of Shi'a dominance to concerns about federalism, he 
said. 
 
4. (C) The Iraqi Government's decision not to allow Iraqi 
resident abroad to participate in the October 15 referendum 
has reduced Iraqis residing in the UAE to the status of 
spectator, but they will be allowed to vote for 45 of the 275 
seats in the parliament during the December 15 elections. 
Abu Dhabi residents Laith Gabriel and Nabil al-Taweel, both 
Iraqis, told Pol Chief they had not seen copies of the 
constitution and had been told by the Iraqi Embassy that 
copies were not available there either.  Although al-Taweel 
knows he's not going to be allowed to vote October 15, he 
said it would still be helpful to read the document.  He said 
that friends and relatives in Iraq were "getting sarcastic 
about voting on a constitution they haven't seen."  Unlike 
the January 2005 election for overseas Iraqis, which was 
funded and organized by the International Organization for 
Migration with the support of the UAEG, the December 15 
elections will be handled by the Iraqi Embassy in Abu Dhabi 
with the help of the Iraqi Business Council.  Expatriates 
from 20-22 countries are expected to vote in the UAE at that 
time, Khan said. 
 
Comment: 
------- 
 
5. (C) As the October 15 referendum draws nearer, HbZ may get 
fewer visitors from Iraq because of travel restrictions the 
Government of Iraq is going to impose in the run-up to the 
vote.  We are monitoring the airwaves for any statements that 
al-Kubaysi or others might make regarding the constitutional 
referendum specifically, and Iraq's political process 
generally. 
QUINN