VIEWS ON QATAR-SAUDI MEETING, QATAR'S TIES

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 002061 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2009 TAGS: PREL QA TC SUBJECT: VIEWS ON QATAR-SAUDI MEETING, QATAR'S TIES WITH THE UAE Classified by Richard A. Albright, Charge d'Affaires, a.i., reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) In farewell calls with the Ambassador, the Qatari Ambassador to the UAE, Abdullah Al-Othman, and Abu Dhabi Deputy Crown Prince and Chief of Staff of the UAE Armed Forces, Shaykh Mohamed bin Zayed (MbZ), gave their respective readouts on the recent Qatar- Saudi talks, and on the Qatari Crown Prince's June 13- 14 visit to the UAE. Qatar-Saudi talks -------------- ¶2. (C) The Qatari Ambassador, Abdullah Al-Othman, said on June 15 that meetings between the Qatari Emir, Shaykh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and senior Saudis, including Prince Salman bin Abdelaziz, the Governor of Riyadh, were a good start at improving relations. The meetings were arranged by Kuwait on a yacht off the southern coast of France. The Qatari Ambassador said that the Qataris were appreciative of Kuwait having brokered the meetings and said that that two future meetings would take place in Europe, but without the Kuwaitis. In a separate meeting with the Ambassador on June 14, MbZ said he doubted that relations could improve much further without the Qataris reining in Al Jazeera television. The only way to deal with radical television personalities at Al-Jazeera -- MbZ cited Feisal Al-Qassim (moderator of "The Opposite Direction") and Shaykh Yousef Al-Qardawi (talk show host and religious expert) -- was to get rid of them. (Note: MbZ has made his views on Al-Jazeera known to the Qataris on several occasions. End note.) MbZ thought that Crown Prince Abdullah and the Emir Hamed would have to meet in person to make real progress. ¶3. (C) The Qatari Ambassador said the Qatari leadership viewed the Saudis as being very tired. The Saudis are under a lot of pressure and seemed visibly scared, he said. Al-Othman added that the Qataris had conveyed the message that the SAG could get away with lying to the people some of the time, but not all the time. (Comment: It strikes us as highly unlikely that such a message could have been delivered with this bluntness. End comment.) Qatari Crown Prince's visit to UAE -------------- ¶4. (C) Qatari Crown Prince Shaykh Tamim bin Hamad Al- Thani made his third visit to the UAE June 13-14 at the invitation of UAE Crown Prince Shaykh Khalifa bin Zayed. The greeting party included Shaykh Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister Shaykh Sultan bin Zayed, MbZ, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Shaykh Hamdan bin Zayed (HbZ),and Saeed Al-Kindi, Speaker of the Federal National Council. Shaykh Khalifa hosted him for lunch on a private island, and MbZ and HbZ gave Tamim a tour of the Abu Dhabi Ship-building Company. MbZ told the Ambassador that the Qataris were interested in the shipyards for both their coast guard and for recreational yachts. (Note: France and the UAE are co-producing Corvette patrol craft at the shipyards as part of the Emiratis' plan to modernize their navy. End note.) The Qatari Ambassador said that the visit had generated no new agreements or projects, but that it had propelled political, economic, and commercial relations. ALBRIGHT