US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI3146

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 003146 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/FO, AND NEA/PA 
 
NSC FOR PETER THEROUX 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/06/13 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, TC 
SUBJECT:  ZAYID CENTER TO GET MORE OVERSIGHT, NEW 
MANAGEMENT, TO STAY IN LINE WITH UAEG POLICY 
 
REF: A) Abu Dhabi 2895 (161335Z JUN 03) 
B) Abu Dhabi 2236 
C) 02 Abu Dhabi 4712 
 
1. (U) Classified by Ambassador Marcelle M. Wahba 
for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D). 
 
2. (C) SUMMARY:  The controversial Abu Dhabi-based, Arab 
League-affiliated and UAEG-funded Zayid Center for 
Coordination and Follow-Up (ZCCF) will cease temporarily 
all of its activities this summer, and will have a new 
board of trustees and executive staff in the fall, the 
Ambassador learned during a meeting July 5 with Mohammad 
Habroush al-Suwaidi, a close adviser of the Abu Dhabi 
ruling family.  The decision, coming after months of 
engagement by the Ambassador at senior levels of the UAEG, 
should put this issue to rest.  END SUMMARY. 
 
3.  (C) The Ambassador met July 5 with Mohammad Habroush 
al-Suwaidi, who is chairman of the National Bank of Abu 
Dhabi, a member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and 
Supreme Petroleum Council, and a close confidant of the Abu 
Dhabi ruling family and plays the role of advisor to the 
Crown Prince, Shaykh Khalifa.  Over the past two years, the 
Ambassador has developed a good working relationship with 
Habroush who maintains a very low public profile.  In the 
meeting, the Ambassador explained the USG view on the ZCCF, 
just as she has done in previous meetings with Abu Dhabi's 
senior leadership over the past nine months.  Habroush told 
the Ambassador that both he and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince 
Sheikh Khalifa were very concerned by the negative press 
that the ZCCF was receiving, and agreed "100 percent" with 
the USG position that the Center is no longer promoting 
President Zayid's philosophies, including a message of 
tolerance, understanding, and a pro-American policy. 
Habroush added that Sh. Khalifa appointed him as his 
emissary to meet one-on-one with his half-brother the 
Center's patron, Deputy Prime Minister Sultan bin Zayid, 
Shaykh Zayid's second eldest son. 
 
4.  (C) In their one-on-one meeting, Sultan was reportedly 
cooperative and said he never meant any harm to his father. 
He conceded that some of the speakers and activities at the 
Center had tarnished his father's reputation and were not 
in keeping with his father's policies and ideology.  Sultan 
further agreed that all of the Center's public activities 
should cease for the summer, and that the executive staff 
was in need of an overhaul.  In addition, to ensure better 
oversight, the Center will get a new board of trustees this 
fall.  MFA Minstate Hamdan bin Zayid, in a telcon with the 
Ambassador July 6, confirmed the steps Habroush outlined. 
The Ambassador has repeatedly engaged the senior UAEG 
leadership on the need to make substantive changes at the 
Center, a "think tank" that has sponsored a series of 
offensive lectures, released publications containing 
noxious material about Judaism, and allowed anti-semitic 
language on its website. 
 
5.  (C) Habroush assured the Ambassador that the Center 
will no longer tolerate anti-American, anti-semitic, or 
other offensive messages.  (Note: There was no discussion 
of the Center's website, but we assume that it will be 
cleaned up as well.  End note.)  Although there had been 
talk of changing the Center's name to remove any reference 
to Shaykh Zayid, Sultan's willingness to do the needful 
with regard to staffing, activities and programs is 
sufficient, Habroush said. 
 
6.  (U) The Ambassador told Habroush that she would convey 
these positive developments to Washington.  The Embassy has 
seen US press reports citing Harvard President Lawrence 
Summers saying he will decide in the next two weeks whether 
to accept a gift from Shaykh Zayid to establish a chair for 
Islamic Religious Studies.  When queried this spring by the 
Divinity School's Dean, we told Harvard that while the ZCCF 
is funded by the UAEG, it does not necessarily reflect the 
views of the UAEG or Shaykh Zayed personally.  Harvard 
isn't the only educational institution with questions about 
Shaykh Zayid's generosity.  We have seen US press reports 
about a new controversy involving a $15,000 donation by 
Shaykh Zayid to the Las Flores Elementary School in 
southern California.  The school reportedly needs the funds 
to save teachers' jobs.  The School Superintendent has 
asked Rep. Christopher Cox of Newport Beach for help in 
researching Sheykh Zayid's "background" before deciding 
whether the school can keep his money. 
 
7.  (C) COMMENT:  In the end, credit goes to Khalifa, 
Shaykh Zayid's eldest son, for acting decisively by 
engaging one-on-one with his younger half-brother (albeit 
by deploying a close ally of Shaykh Zayid, perhaps to save 
the embarrassment entailed in a face-to-face consultation). 
The Ambassador's senior interlocutors had cautioned that 
any move against Sultan by his younger half-brothers - de 
facto Defense Minister Muhammad bin Zayid and MFA Minstate 
Hamdan, would be viewed as an outright power play.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
8.  (U) Biographic note:  Habroush is related to Ahmed bin 
Khalifa al-Suweidi, the UAEG's first foreign minister and 
an architect of UAE federation.  He wields considerable 
political power behind the scenes through his close 
relationship with CP Khalifa and his membership on the 
Executive and Petroleum Councils of Abu Dhabi. 
WAHBA