US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI2876

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 002876 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NP FOR KCROUCH, LONDON AND ROME FOR CUSTOMS 
ATTACHES, DOC/BIS FOR RCUPPITT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/15/08 
TAGS: ETTC, PARM, PREL, PTER, KSTC, TC 
SUBJECT: EXBS TEAM RECEIVES COMMITMENT FROM UAEG FOR TRAINING 
STARTING IN OCTOBER 
 
REFS: ABU DHABI 6417 AND PREVIOUS 
 
1.  (U) Classified by Acting DCM Thomas E. Williams for 
reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
2.  (C) Summary and comment:  An interagency USG visited 
the UAE June 14-15 to successfully re-launch a comprehensive, 
multidisciplinary training roadmap on the 
key bilateral issue of export controls and border security (EXBS). 
The team met with a number of UAE officials with EXBS 
responsibilities, receiving a warm welcome from federal officials 
in Abu Dhabi, and assurances from the UAE's coordinating body 
for export controls that the first of our proposed courses 
here would begin by October 2003.  The UAEG is strongly 
committed to establishing a first-class export controls regime, 
and this visit was a good opportunity to convey our bilateral 
export control objectives to working-level UAE officials, and 
to ensure the buy-in of key officials in the Ministry of 
Interior -- the newly-designated coordinator at the federal 
level for EXBS activities.  We will coordinate with the 
federal authorities to ensure robust UAE participation at the 
Global Transshipment Control Enforcement Seminar in Sydney 
next month, and prepare for the first WMD Commodity 
Identification and Customs Assessment visit tentatively 
scheduled for later this year. 
End summary and comment. 
 
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The UAEG Reaffirms Its Commitment... 
------------------------------------ 
 
3.  (C) Receiving the team 6/14, UAE Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs Assistant Undersecretary for Political Affairs 
Abdullah Rashid Al-Nuami restated the UAE's political commitment 
to the export controls roadmap, and expressed his hope that 
intensive training could begin in the UAE later this year. 
As reported reftel, Al- Nuami noted that responsibility on the 
UAE side for coordinating our entire range of 
bilateral export control initiatives had been transferred 
to the Ministry of Interior, which is responsible in part for 
the UAE's border security. 
 
4.  (C) Al-Nuami noted, however, that the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs is coordinating the UAE's participation in 
the Global Transshipment Control Enforcement Seminar in Sydney, 
July 14-18, and undertook to pass the delegates' names and 
contact information to the Embassy as soon as possible.  A/DCM 
emphasized that the UAE delegation would be expected to give a 
presentation on the UAE export control regime and related 
processes, and encouraged the MFA to send a senior official to 
lead the UAE's bilateral meeting with U.S. officials scheduled 
for July 14. 
 
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...And Begins To Take Concrete Steps 
------------------------------------ 
 
5.  (C) The EXBS team met with UAE Ministry of Interior Assistant 
Undersecretary of Security Affairs Major General Saif 
Abdallah Al-Shafar and a large contingent of his staff 
responsible for export controls issues -- some of whom will 
travel to Sydney in July.  Our interlocutors were prepared for the 
meeting, and had translated the EXBS roadmap into Arabic for 
further dissemination to other ministries and 
departments in the UAEG. 
 
6.  (C) General Shafar emphasized that the training modules 
should be clear and easy to implement from the start, and 
added that it may be necessary for the EXBS trainers to offer 
the same course again and again to reach a wide audience.  He was 
pleased with the comprehensive approach to the EXBS training, 
however, and suggested that the first course on WMD Commodity 
Identification and Customs Assessment begin in October. 
General Shafar assured the EXBS team that UAE participation in the 
courses would be inter-ministerial, and involve both federal and 
emirate-level officials from across the country. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Other Ministries Interested In Training 
--------------------------------------- 
 
7.  (C) GHQ Major Khalid Hareb Saeed Al-Mazrouie also undertook 
to send a delegate to the Sydney Conference during his meeting 
with the EXBS team later in the day. GHQ already works closely 
with the Ministry of Health on controlling narcotics 
trafficking and the transport of chemical and biological 
agents through the UAE, and thinks that the weapons identification 
training offered through the EXBS program 
could have other applications here, as well. 
8.  (C) Ministry of Health Director of the Drug Control 
Department Dr. Easa Al- Mansouri provided the EXBS team with 
an update on MoH efforts to register companies 
and private institutions that import or export chemical 
precursors -- in line with the UAE's commitments as a signatory 
to the Chemical Weapons Convention.  Dr. Easa 
noted that the UAE already maintains an export controls list -- 
the list is approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs -- but 
admitted that it was very limited, with only 33 chemical agents 
listed. 
 
9.  (U) The EXBS team did not have the opportunity to clear 
this cable. Dubai meetings reported septel. 
 
Wahba