ICC ARTICLE 98: UAE CONSIDERING

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 001698 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP STATE ALSO FOR PM/B - MURRAY TUNIS FOR FSI - MAYBURY E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/8/13 TAGS: PREL KTIA KICC TC SUBJECT: ICC ARTICLE 98: UAE CONSIDERING EXCHANGE OF DIP NOTES REF: Abu Dhabi 415 ¶1. (U) Classified by Ambassador Marcelle M. Wahba for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D). ¶2. (C) The Ambassador used the opportunity of an April 6 meeting with MFA Minstate Shaykh Hamdan bin Zayid Al-Nahyan to again urge forward movement on the signing of an ICC Article 98 agreement. Hamdan acknowledged the importance of dealing with this issue, which had been on the agenda of last year's inaugural Bilateral Strategic Dialogue. The Ambassador laid out the option of formalizing the agreement via an exchange of diplomatic notes, but emphasized that this would need to be legally binding. Hamdan promised to look into the matter right away. ¶3. (C) MFA Deputy Legal Affairs Director Yacoub Al- Hosani contacted Polchief on April 7 to report that Hamdan had decided to pursue an exchange of dip notes. He assured that this course of action would be legally binding. Polchief faxed over the dip note draft language in Arabic and English provided by the Department. Al-Hosani briefed that a committee has been formed to review the language; he estimated that the UAE would need approximately three to four weeks for the review process. We will continue to follow-up with the MFA and report our findings to the Department. WAHBA