Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04ABUDHABI166
2004-01-14 15:41:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Abu Dhabi
Cable title:  

FRENCH FM DISCUSSES IRAQ, IRAN, AND MIDDLE

Tags:  PREL IZ IR IS FR TC 
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Cable 
Text: 
 
 
CONFIDENTIAL

SIPDIS
TELEGRAM January 14, 2004


To: No Action Addressee 

Action: Unknown 

From: AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI (ABU DHABI 166 - UNKNOWN) 

TAGS: PREL 

Captions: None 

Subject: FRENCH FM DISCUSSES IRAQ, IRAN, AND MIDDLE EAST ROADMAP
 WITH UAE LEADERSHIP 

Ref: None 
_________________________________________________________________
C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 00166

SIPDIS
CXABU:
 ACTION: POL 
 INFO: RSO AMB DCM ECON P/M 

DISSEMINATION: POL
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: AMB:MMWAHBA
DRAFTED: POL:JFMAYBURY
CLEARED: DCM:RAALBRIGHT

VZCZCADI605
OO RUEHC RUEHEE RHMFISS RUEHFR
DE RUEHAD #0166/01 0141541
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 141541Z JAN 04
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3014
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTH BAGHDAD
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0794
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 000166 

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/14
TAGS: PREL IZ IR IS FR TC
SUBJECT: FRENCH FM DISCUSSES IRAQ, IRAN, AND MIDDLE
EAST ROADMAP WITH UAE LEADERSHIP

Classified by Ambassador Marcelle M. Wahba, reasons
1.5 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 000166

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/14
TAGS: PREL IZ IR IS FR TC
SUBJECT: FRENCH FM DISCUSSES IRAQ, IRAN, AND MIDDLE
EAST ROADMAP WITH UAE LEADERSHIP

Classified by Ambassador Marcelle M. Wahba, reasons
1.5 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: French Foreign Minister de Villepin
discussed Iraq, Iran, and the Middle East Roadmap
during his meetings on January 12 with Abu Dhabi Crown
Prince Shaykh Khalifa, Deputy Abu Dhabi Crown Prince
and UAE Armed Forces Chief Shaykh Mohammed bin Zayed
(MbZ),and Deputy Prime Minister and de facto Foreign
Minister Shaykh Hamdan bin Zayed (HbZ). De Villepin,
whose stop in the UAE was the first on a three-day
itinerary to five GCC states (Saudi Arabia was not on
the itinerary),delivered a message from President
Chirac for President Zayed expressing the GOF's
satisfaction with the level of their bilateral
relations. The following message is based on a
January 14 readout of de Villepin's meetings with the
Emiratis given to us by French DCM Philippe Franc.
End Summary.

Iraq
--------------


2. (C) HbZ told de Villepin that the UAE was looking
forward to the June 30 transfer of authority in Iraq.
He explained that the UAE had supported the Iraq
Governing Council because the UN had no role, and
softly reproached the GOF for not being involved more.
The UAE was deeply concerned about Iraq's potential
breakup. HbZ said the Baathist period had worsened
ethnic and sectarian problems rather than resolve
them. HbZ, who noted that his government has regular
contacts with the IGC, said GC members have assured
him that the transition of power calendar will be
respected. De Villepin agreed with HbZ's assessment,
but said that it was important to resolve differences
with Shi'a cleric Sistani. HbZ countered that Sistani
knows he cannot get all he wants, and is someone with
whom the UAE can cooperate. De Villepin said the GOF
favors the greatest possible participation (of those
who renounce violence) in the Iraqi political process.
The two agreed that Iraq's neighbors should not
interfere in Iraq's domestic affairs.


3. (C) In his meeting with CP Khalifa, de Villepin
said that the UN needed to play a more important role
after June 2004, and added that the GOF would urge
UNSYG Kofi Annan to name a Special Representative. CP

Khalifa's jocular retort was that the UN will need
protection. CP Khalifa offered some interesting
insights about Iraq and its diverse demographic
composition. There has not been a formal census in
years, he said, therefore it is difficult to predict
what types of alliances will be formed under a federal
system. Moreover, he counseled caution, positing that
a federal system need not be ethnic or religious based
t could be regional. The Iraqis need to control
their country, he continued, and the Coalition troops
must leave, but not until the country is stable.
Otherwise, he warned, there will be civil war.


4. (U) At a press conference, de Villepin reportedly
called for an international conference on Iraq to add
legitimacy to the process of power transfer in Iraq,
and to help Iraq become better integrated into the
international community.

Peace Process
--------------


5. (C) HbZ thanked the GOF for its stance on Middle
East peace issues. In their respective meetings with
de Villepin, HbZ and the Crown Prince insisted on the
importance of the Palestinian problem in the larger
regional context. HbZ told de Villepin that if the
Palestinian problem had been resolved, we would not
have terrorism today. CP Khalifa said the unresolved
Palestinian issue was the "mother of all problems in
the Arab world." The UAEG supports the Palestinian
Authority (though HbZ and the CP did not mention
Arafat) through financing to the PA and generous
support for hospital operations and other humanitarian
projects. HbZ and the CP called for the relaunch of
the Middle East Roadmap and the Quartet's activities
and urged the GOF to throw its weight behind the
process. The Emiratis told de Villepin that delays in
moving the Roadmap forward favor terrorism and
violence. In his press conference, de Villepin
mentioned the need for an international conference to
get the Roadmap back on track, and he urged Europe to
provide financial aid to the Palestinians.

Iran
--------------


6. (C) De Villepin talked to CP Khalifa about his trip
to Iran as part of a demarche to convince the Iranian
leadership to cooperate with the UN on Iran's nuclear
program. The Crown Prince said the UAE hopes that
Iran will renounce its nuclear program. Ideally, he
continued, the whole world should renounce nuclear
weapons. De Villepin took note of the Emiratis' long-
standing concern about Iran's threat to the GCC states
and current concern over the outcome of Iran's
parliamentary election process.

One-on-one meeting with MbZ
--------------


7. (C) Immediately after de Villepin's meeting with CP
Khalifa, there was a one-on-one meeting with MbZ in
which they exchanged views on relations between the
West and the Arab world, international security, and
reforms in the Arab world. Franc could not share his
confidential notes on these discussions, but said that

SIPDIS
there was no mention of French-Emirati military
cooperation, and that the discussion about their
bilateral relationship was not "concrete." MbZ did,
however, warn of outside pressure on the KSA, saying
that it could contribute to bringing about a regime we
don't want. MbZ was de Villepin's only interlocutor
who raised France's ban on headscarves in government
schools. He told de Villepin that the UAEG cannot
publicly support Chirac, but the Emiratis are not
going to attack the GOF's position either. MbZ
assured de Villepin that the issue should not harm
France's traditional image in the Arab world.

Visa procedures: A thorn in the Emiratis' side
-------------- -


8. (C) HbZ inserted his younger Beni Fatima brother
and head of state security, Shaykh Hazza, in his
meeting to make the point that French-Emirati security
cooperation, including combating money laundering and
exchanging law enforcement expertise, had been
excellent. However, when HbZ came to the visa issue,
he asked de Villepin how France and the EU could treat
Emiratis as badly as it does, particularly after
receiving Emirati assurances about its robust security
cooperation, including thorough security checks on
military officers applying for visas. Emiratis have
to wait two weeks to obtain a visa to travel to
Schengen countries (for administrative reasons),and
there are currently no exceptions, not even for
Emirati VIPs. Hazza said that the UAE maintains tight
security.

Atmospherics
--------------


9. (C) The French were upset that the Emiratis turned
down their request for a meeting with President Zayed
on the grounds that Zayed was ill, only to see a
photograph in the press the day after de Villepin's
visit showing Zayed greeting a senior Bahraini
official. In the meeting with CP Khalifa, the French
observed that the Crown Prince was a man of a few
words, but that those words were well chosen and he
appeared to be fully aware of latest developments. De
Villepin was apparently very pleased with his meetings
and impressed with both HbZ (whom he had never met)
and MbZ (who accompanied CP Khalifa to Paris last
year). Nevertheless, the French came away with the
sentiment that their relationship with the UAE, while
friendly, lacked depth. The only thing that puzzled
the French was why MbZ would choose to leaf through a
magazine while sitting beside CP Khalifa during their
meeting with the FM. They took it that this reflected
a culture far different from their own and did not see
it as a lack of respect.

WAHBA