US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI1381

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 001381 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR IRAQ TASK FORCE, ALSO NEA/ARP, NEA/EX, 
CA/OCS/NEASA, DS/DSS/ITA, DS/IP/NEA, DSERCC, AND M 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL 03/23/13 
TAGS: ASEC, AMGT, KHLS, PTER, PREL, EAID, PGOV, TC 
SUBJECT:  TFIZ01 (EAC): ABU DHABI SITREP NO. 4, MARCH 23 
 
REF: ABU DHABI 1365 AND PREVIOUS 
 
1.  (U) Classified by DCM Richard A. Albright, for reasons 
1.5 (B) and (D). 
 
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General Overview 
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2.  (U) COM convened Abu Dhabi's Iraq Task Force/core 
Emergency Action Committee (EAC) at 1000 local time, 3/23. 
Embassy Abu Dhabi, FCS (located outside of the Embassy 
compound), and the USGS office in Al Ain are open 3/23 with 
full staffing. 
 
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Consular Issues 
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3.  (U) The Consular Section is open for American Citizen 
Services today and will resume visa services on 3/24.  The 
American community here has remained calm; CONS has not 
received a single call from worried AMCITs.  In contrast, 
consular officers from other Western embassies in Abu Dhabi 
have reported a high level of anxiety among their citizenry 
since the onset of hostilities.  Most embassies here 
released a travel warning only after the military action in 
Iraq had begun.  CONS posited that our outreach program of 
warden messages and travel warnings prior to the war kept 
the American community informed about the situation. 
 
4.  (U) American business community contacts report no 
significant exodus from the UAE of private American 
citizens or U.S. companies located here. 
 
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UAEG Actions/Statements 
----------------------- 
 
5.  (C) POL noted that the new Speaker of the UAE's 
parliamentary Federal National Council publicly announced 
yesterday that the situation in Iraq is the fault of the 
Iraqi leadership.  Speaker Al-Kindi said that Saddam had 
been given the opportunity to leave, but had declined to 
heed that good advice. 
 
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Security 
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6.  (C) Task Force/EAC members agreed to implement random 
security inspection of American and FSN employees, upon 
arrival to the Embassy compound.  Those who are randomly 
selected will undergo inspection of their personal and 
other property by Embassy guards. 
 
7.  (C) USLO reported no incidents involving U.S. military 
troops in the UAE, and reported that our forces here are 
likely to move from Force Protection Condition Delta to 
Charlie on 3/24. 
 
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Local Media 
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8.  (C) UAE Information Minister Shaykh Abdulla Bin Zayid 
Al-Nahyan reportedly requested the Pan-Arab "Al-Khaleej" 
Arabic daily to "tone down" its Iraq reporting.  PAO noted, 
however, that "Al-Khaleej" continued to criticize the 
United States and focused on Iraqi casualties of war, 
carrying a full page of photographs of wounded Iraqi men, 
women, and children on 3/23. 
 
9.  (C) Shaykh Abdulla also told the Ambassador that all 
journalists held captive in the Iraqi Information Ministry 
building have been allowed to leave, but were being forced 
to file their reports from the building.  According to 
Shaykh Abdulla, most journalists left the building last 
night for fear of their safety during the U.S. air strikes 
on Baghdad. 
 
10.  (C) Abu Dhabi TV aired Deputy Secretary Armitage's 
interview on 3/22 and 3/23.  Secretary Powell is expected 
to appear on Abu Dhabi TV next week.  PAO noted that only 
two Arab reporters -- from Abu Dhabi TV and Al-Jazeera -- 
had asked questions of General Franks in yesterday's 
CENTCOM briefing.  The Ambassador noted the importance of 
placing more Arab journalists in the front rows at CENTCOM 
briefings to ensure that their questions were aired.   PAO 
undertook to pass this suggestion to her military 
counterparts. 
 
11.  (U) PAO has updated the Embassy web page, distributed 
recent statements from Administration officials, and 
established an SMS text messaging service for local 
journalists and UAEG officials to quickly disseminate Iraq- 
related information. 
 
12.  (U) Abu Dhabi Iraq Task Force/EAC will reconvene at 
1000 local time, 3/24. 
 
13.  (U) Iraq Task Force/EAC members in attendance included 
AMB, DCM, RSO, DAO, P/M, POL, ECON, CONS, MSG, OBO, PAO, 
ADMIN, USLO, FCS, FBI. 
 
Wahba