US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI1766

S E C R E T ABU DHABI 001766 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/NGA AND PRM/ANE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/9/13 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PREF, GCC, IZ, TC 
SUBJECT:  SECRETARY'S ORAL MESSAGE TO GCC FM'S 
DELIVERED TO MFA MINSTATE HAMDAN 
 
REF:  State 95252 
 
1. (U) Classified by Ambassador Marcelle M. Wahba 
for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D). 
 
2. (S) The Ambassador delivered reftel oral message 
to MFA Minstate Shaykh Hamdan bin Zayid Al-Nahyan on 
4/13.  Hamdan said his attendance at the 4/15 GCC 
Foreign Ministerial depended on the timing of a 
visit the same day to Abu Dhabi by Russian Deputy 
Foreign Minister Saltanov to discuss Iraq and other 
regional issues.  Hamdan expected that the GCC 
Foreign Ministers would discuss how the Arab/Gulf 
media should respond to the new political situation 
in Iraq.  He also noted that the agenda would 
include the humanitarian situation in Iraq and the 
need for a regional plan of action. 
 
3. (S) The Ambassador asked that the UAE keep in 
mind Iraq's immediate energy needs and suggested 
assistance to support basic human needs.  Hamdan 
said the Red Crescent Authority (RCA) is focused on 
food and medicine, but would keep it in mind as they 
assess Iraqi needs.  Hamdan said the RCA's 
humanitarian shipment, delivered to Umm Qasr on 
4/11, was being distributed and that Emirati doctors 
traveling with the RCA team had treated Iraqi 
patients in the south.  He said the next step was to 
get supplies and equipment into Baghdad, especially 
in light of the dire situation in the looted 
hospitals.  The Ambassador noted that the Embassy 
was coordinating with the RCA on the possibility of 
sending a humanitarian shipment via air into Baghdad 
International.  Hamdan offered that UAE Air Force C- 
130's -- which have been used to ferry humanitarian 
supplies to Afghanistan -- could fly into Baghdad. 
The Ambassador said she would look into this 
possibility, noting that, given the continuing 
security problems at the airport and in Baghdad in 
general, only coalition military aircraft equipped 
with defensive countermeasures were landing. 
 
4. (S) The Ambassador briefed Hamdan on the upcoming 
meeting of Iraqi leaders in Nasiriya.  Hamdan 
advised that he had just called KDP leader Massoud 
Barzani for the first time.  Barzani thanked Hamdan 
for reaching out to him and thanked the UAE for its 
support in the victory. 
 
WAHBA