UAEG DOWNGRADES REPRESENTATION TO THE THIRD GLOBAL FORUM DUE TO SARS; NOTIFIED OF U.S. PARTICIPATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 002369 SIPDIS DEPT FOR INL/C -- D. LUNA AND J. BRANDOLINO, AND NEA/ARP JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS, AND NDDS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/08 TAGS: KCRM PGOV EAID EINV ECON ETRD TC SUBJECT: UAEG DOWNGRADES REPRESENTATION TO THE THIRD GLOBAL FORUM DUE TO SARS; NOTIFIED OF U.S. PARTICIPATION REFS: A) ABU DHABI 2081 B) STATE 125551 C) STATE 103851 ¶1. (U) Classified by Charge d'Affaires Richard A. Albright, for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D). ¶2. (C) Despite earlier indications to the contrary (ref A),the UAE Justice Ministry notified Post 5/14 that the Minister and his staff would not/not attend the Third Global Forum on Fighting Corruption. When queried by Poloff 5/17, UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Director of Legal Affairs Yacub Al-Hosani intimated that many UAE officials (including the Justice Minister) are unwilling to travel to Korea right now because of the SARS virus. He confirmed, however, that while the UAEG would not be represented at the Forum at the ministerial-level, someone of Ambassadorial rank -- possibly the UAE Ambassador to Korea -- would attend. ¶3. (C) Post also confirmed to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs via diplomatic note 5/14 that Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans will head the U.S. delegation to the Third Global Forum on Fighting Corruption (ref B). We also conveyed the information to our colleagues at the Korean Embassy in Abu Dhabi. Albright