UAE INCREASES SECURITY AFTER BOMBING IN QATAR,

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 001331

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2015
TAGS: PTER PREL ASEC QA TC
SUBJECT: UAE INCREASES SECURITY AFTER BOMBING IN QATAR,
EXPATRIATE COMMUNITY CONCERNED, NOT PANICKED


Classified By: Richard Albright, Charge D'Affaires, a.i., for reasons 1
.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: After the Doha theater bombing, UAE
officials markedly increased the security presence throughout
the cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai in locations such as
diplomatic communities, western schools, and residential
neighborhoods. UAEG officials are worried they are
vulnerable to this type of attack. Local, diplomatic, and
expatriate contacts are concerned that an attack could occur
in the UAE, but there is not a sense of an imminent threat.
End summary.


2. (S) An advisor to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Zayed told Charge March 22 that the Doha bombing had not so
much altered the underlying security situation as it had
brought home the reality that terrorists could lay hidden and
dormant for a long time before striking. While he could
point to no new or specific threat information, he
highlighted a longstanding vulnerability -- that the UAE,s
80 percent expatriate population and easy access could
provide fertile ground for potential terrorists. To counter
the possibility that they might now activate, the UAEG had
taken the decision to boost security around the country. He
stated that Dubai was the city they were most concerned
about, because it was target rich and because Dubai is so
loose about issuing visas. The advisor was critical of
Qatar,s security services, which he viewed as much less
effective than those of the UAEG.


3. (C) ARSO learned from an Abu Dhabi police official that
the Chief of Police had called an unprecedented meeting of
his police commanders to underscore the seriousness with
which the UAE government has taken the incident in Doha and
to order internal police presence to the highest state of
alert in recent years. The contact cited increased patrols
of traffic police, protection police (Harasat),and plain
clothes police (CID) around area schools and diplomatic
missions. Regarding the country,s critical infrastructure,
such as desalianation plants and oil refineries, he said that
they have bolstered security around these areas "like never
before."


4. (C) ConGen Dubai security contacts, both in State Security
(SSD) and the regular police, indicated that they were
exercising greater vigilance in the aftermath of the Doha
bombing, including increasing the numbers of patrols in
Dubai's expat neighborhoods. One senior SSD contact
expressed concern that the bomber -- a middle-aged Egyptian,
with a decent job, who had resided in Doha for some time --
did not match the normal profile of a potential terrorist.
He noted, however, that the GCC security forces share
information, and expressed hope that the investigation in
Doha would provide information that might be useful in the
UAE, too.


5. (C) UAE special forces laid on double the normal
protection for the visit of CENTAF Commander Buchanan for his
March 21-22 visit. Embassy employees have commented on the
increased patrols around the city, and our surveillance
detection team has reported a significant increase in police
patrols around the diplomatic quarter. The UAEG also
responded rapidly to the Embassy,s request for increased
police presence at the chancellery and at the two American
schools. They also boosted police presence at other western
schools. One Embassy employee reported that two CCTV cameras
were installed this week in a parking lot adjacent to his
residential compound. RSO has learned that this compound is
adjacent to a prominent Sheikh,s meeting area (Majlis) and
is probably the reason for the recent installation of the
cameras.


6. (C) In a March 23 meeting of the Counter Terrorism Action
Group (CTAG) organized by the UK Embassy (to be reported
septel),western diplomats observed that UAE officials are
staying vigilant, but not panicking. The French DCM
characterized UAE security officials as "serene" in their
confidence that nothing will happen in the UAE. The Canadian
political officer noted that UAE officials believe they are
more vulnerable to an attack like this week's bombing in
Doha, as opposed to the type of extremist activity that
occurred in Kuwait in January.


7. (C) The attack in neighboring Qatar left expatriates and
UAE nationals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai worried that the UAE
could be next. Some of our regular contacts talked about
prominent targets and Western interests that terrorists might
attack in hopes of frightening away expatriates and
destabilizing the country,s economy. CG Dubai spoke to
American businessmen at an American Business Community (ABC)
reception March 22. The consensus seemed to be that while
there was concern about the Doha incident and what it might
mean for Dubai, there was no sense of fear or panic among
Americans. An Emirati gold and jewelry merchant told CG March
22 that the Doha explosion had caused a big stir in Dubai in
part because the Briton who was killed in the explosion had
lived in Dubai for years, working as a schoolteacher.


7. (SBU) The European Union chiefs of mission jointly decided
to maintain their assessed threat level as a "high threat."
Individually, several Embassies issued warden messages to
their communities, but none reissued travel advisories in
response to the attack in Doha. UK DCM reported that some
British citizens have called the British Embassy asking for
advice, but most of the diplomats present at the CTAG meeting
said that their expatriate communities are remaining calm and
do not seem to be overly concerned.


8. (S) COMMENT: The UAEG appears determined to do everything
possible to deter terrorist attacks here. It is taking the
Doha bombing as a warning and reacting with a visible
increase in security. We are seeing no signs of panic here.
Mission security contacts in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are
projecting calm determination.
ALBRIGHT