EXBS TEAM RECEIVES COMMITMENT FROM UAEG FOR TRAINING

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...
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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
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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.

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Other Ministries Interested In Training
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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