IRAQI EXPATS: U.S. NEEDS TO LISTEN TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 004835

SIPDIS

STATE ALSO FOR NEA/NGA, NEA/PD AND NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/13
TAGS: KPAO PGOV PREL IZ TC
SUBJECT: IRAQI EXPATS: U.S. NEEDS TO LISTEN TO
IRAQIS AGAIN, SET UP OBJECTIVE IRAQI
SATELLITE TV

Ref: A) Abu Dhabi 1750, B) Abu Dhabi 1624

(U) Classified by Richard A. Albright, Charge
d'Affaires, a.i., for Reasons 1.5 (B) and (D).


1. (C) Summary: We recently met with two
prominent Iraqi expats in the UAE. They
recommended that the Coalition move quickly to
establish an Iraqi satellite TV station to beam
more balanced coverage of Iraqi developments to
the Arab world. They wanted a new UN resolution
that would solve the issue of compensation to
Kuwait decreed by Security Council resolution

1483. They criticized the Coalition for not
sealing Iraq's borders to prevent foreign
resistance fighters from entering, and ex-
Baathists from escaping. They also expressed
concern that the U.S. is not doing as good a job
of listening to its Iraqi friends' advice as it
did before the war. The expats told us that the
new Iraqi Ambassador in Abu Dhabi views the
Coalition as a force of occupation. End
summary.


2. (C) Polchief and senior PAO FSN visited with
two members of the large Iraqi expat community
in the UAE on October 25. In contrast to our
last meetings with them in April (see refs A and
B),the expats were more critical of the
Coalition, but in the spirit of friendship, they
continued to offer suggestions for improving the
situation in Iraq. Dr. Ala'a Al-Tamimi was a
senior official in the Iraqi Ministry of
Industry until he fled the country in August

1991. After spending several years in Jordan,
he transferred to the UAE where he works for the
Abu Dhabi Department of Planning. Al-Tamimi, a
Sunni who hails from Fallujah, told us he
designed and oversaw the construction of one of
Saddam's bunkers on the Tigris. Dr. Niazi
Sadiq, a surgeon, has lived in the UAE for
thirty years and hails from Baghdad. He is a
Shi'a.


3. (C) Ala'a told us that he had traveled to
Iraq recently and that based on what he saw, he
concluded that the war was over. In his view,
the current violence is an unsophisticated,
isolated, resistance carried out in large part
by Sunnis who converted to Wahhabism. Niazi
agreed that the war to oust Saddam is over, but
said a new war has begun involving outside
parties, such as France, Germany, and Russia.
Niazi theorized that the countries that opposed
the Coalition in the first place now want to see
the Coalition become bogged down in Iraq. He
said he doubted Saddam "has the smarts" to carry
out a well-orchestrated resistance.


4. (C) Our interlocutors urged the Coalition to
quickly establish an Iraqi satellite TV station
offering balanced coverage of Iraqi developments
to Arab audiences. Arabs need an alternative to
Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, they said. They were
critical of Abu Dhabi TV for allowing former
Iraqi Minister of Information Al Sahaf far more
airtime than they do for other Iraqi points of
view. Ala'a said he has written letters
complaining about Abu Dhabi TV's broadcasts of
Al Sahaf, but to no avail. "All we want is
equal time," he added.


5. (C) The expats also want the UN to deal with
the issue of Iraqi compensation for Kuwait
decreed by UNSC resolution 1483. They were
thankful for the multi-billion dollar pledges in
Madrid, but said the compensation issue also
needs to be resolved. "The Iraqi people think
they have to pay for something that was done
against their will," Ala'a told us. "The U.S.
should push Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to give up
pursuing this compensation."


6. (C) Niazi and Ala'a were generally critical
of Coalition actions in Iraq since the end of
the war. They said it was a mistake to disband
the Iraqi army and police force because it left
many without a way to earn a living, and may
have led some to join the armed resistance.
They urged the Coalition to give Iraqis more
control over the security apparatus by training
Iraqis rather than introducing foreign troops,
such as those from Turkey, into Iraq. "Iraqis
were against Saddam Hussein," Ala'a said. "Had
we wanted to fight with him, the U.S. would
still be at Umm Qasr." Our interlocutors also
said it was a mistake to allow individuals such
as Mohammed Saeed Al Sahaf, Mohammed Al Douri,
Dhafer Al Aani, Shaker Hamed, and the daughters
and family of Saddam Hussein, to leave Iraq
instead of turning them over to the Iraqi
justice system. Furthermore, they criticized
the Coalition for not sealing Iraq's borders at
the time of the conflict to prevent foreign
resistance fighters from entering, and ex-
Baathists from escaping. "All the people who
wanted to fight the U.S. flooded in," Ala'a
said. One of the best steps the Coalition could
take is to begin listening to the advice of
Iraqi friends again, Niazi said. "Before the
war, the U.S. wanted to listen to Iraqis. Now,
you won the war. Why don't you want to beat the
terrorists?"


7. (SBU) The Iraqi expats told us they were pleased
to have a functioning Iraqi Embassy in Abu Dhabi
that, "for once, serves the interests of the Iraqi
people instead of the interests of Saddam Hussein."
However, the career diplomat who is serving as
their ambassador still worries them. In a meeting
with Iraqi expats, Ambassador Qusai Mahdi Saleh
reportedly referred to the Coalition as a "force of
occupation." The expats corrected him by saying
the Coalition was "a force of liberation."

ALBRIGHT