Identifier | Created | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|
03ABUDHABI2876 | 2003-06-15 12:37:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Abu Dhabi |
null Diana T Fritz 03/21/2007 05:40:19 PM From DB/Inbox: Search Results Cable Text: CONFIDENTIAL SIPDIS TELEGRAM June 15, 2003 To: No Action Addressee Action: Unknown From: AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI (ABU DHABI 2876 - UNKNOWN) TAGS: ETTC, PARM, PREL, PTER, KSTC Captions: None Subject: EXBS TEAM RECEIVES COMMITMENT FROM UAEG FOR TRAINING STARTING IN OCTOBER Ref: None _________________________________________________________________ C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 02876 SIPDIS CXABU: ACTION: POL INFO: DCM P/M ECON AMB RSO DISSEMINATION: POL CHARGE: PROG APPROVED: A/DCM: TWILLIAMS DRAFTED: ECON:CCRUMPLER CLEARED: NONE VZCZCADI793 OO RUEHC RUEHLO RUEHRO RHFJUSC RHEBAAA RUCPDOC RUEHZM DE RUEHAD #2876/01 1661237 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 151237Z JUN 03 FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0437 INFO RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0681 RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0681 RHFJUSC/US CUSTOMS SERVICE WASHDC RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC RUEHZM/GCC COLLECTIVE |
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 002876 |
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. -------------------------- 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. -------------------------- ...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 |