Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05DOHA1744
2005-10-17 14:08:00
SECRET
Embassy Doha
Cable title:  

QATAR: AMBASSADOR UNTERMEYER'S 14 OCTOBER 2005

Tags:  PREL PTER KPAO QA IZ 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 001744 

SIPDIS

NEA/ARPI FOR STHORNE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/17/2010
TAGS: PREL PTER KPAO QA IZ
SUBJECT: QATAR: AMBASSADOR UNTERMEYER'S 14 OCTOBER 2005
MEETING WITH FOREIGN MINISTER HAMAD BIN JASSIM AL-THANI.

Classified By: Ambassador Chase Untermeyer for reasons
1.4 (A) and (B)

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 001744

SIPDIS

NEA/ARPI FOR STHORNE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/17/2010
TAGS: PREL PTER KPAO QA IZ
SUBJECT: QATAR: AMBASSADOR UNTERMEYER'S 14 OCTOBER 2005
MEETING WITH FOREIGN MINISTER HAMAD BIN JASSIM AL-THANI.

Classified By: Ambassador Chase Untermeyer for reasons
1.4 (A) and (B)


1. (U) The Ambassador met with Qatar's First Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamad bin
Jassim al-Thani (HBJ) at Wajbah Palace during the evening of
Friday, 14 October.

--------------
Iraq Referendum
--------------


2. (S) HBJ said he had been called the day before by Vice
President Cheney, who asked him to use his influence with
Harith al-Dari, head of the Muslim Ulema Council of Iraq, to
curb violence during the referendum and to support the
political process. HBJ said he wants to bring al-Dari's son
to Doha sometime during Ramadan. (The father, he said, would
not come, probably "for security reasons".) The younger
al-Dari has already been to Doha two or three times and "can
deliver". But HBJ said it was important for Amb Khalilzad to
be in Doha at the same time, as (he said) the VP had offered.
The two would not have to meet face-to-face. HBJ said: "We
can pressure them (MUC),but I have to give them some hope
the Americans are ready to listen." He said their dialogue,
whether in-person or through him, should have "no conditions".


3. (C) Ambassador asked HBJ to make a statement supporting
the referendum and urging Sunni participation. Time was late,
Ambassador noted, but suggested that the GOQ could get
something on Al Jazeera in time for many Iraqis to hear it
before the polls closed. HBJ replied that "I do statements at
airports and when we do other things," then turned to ask his
assistant to give him a plan for a more immediate statement.
In any event, HBJ promised a statement after the referendum.

--------------
Al-Jazeera
--------------


4. (C) In his meeting with Sec Rice, HBJ pledged to work with
the Ambassador on the "one or two" major problems the USG
still has with Al Jazeera. Last night he reminded the
Ambassador of this, saying, "I need to know what remains."
Ambassador replied that these would be the two issues raised
every month by the FBIS and DIA monitors: The use of
insurgent-provided videos and of anti-American interviewees.
Ambassador informed HBJ that an interagency working group on
Al Jazeera is developing a response that will be provided to
him soon.


5. (C) The Ambassador informed HBJ that the latest DIA
monitoring report showed an increase in negative comment for
the first time since our bilateral engagement on AJ began in
February. (Hostile reportage rose from an low of 7% in August
to 11% in September.) This backsliding, Ambassador pointed
out, will be noted negatively in Washington. The Ambassador
offered to provide a copy of the report so he (and Al
Jazeera) can see what produced the worsened rating. Perhaps
to show that he is sensitive to anti-American content, HBJ
noted that after Liz Cheney complained to Amb al-Khalifa
about a particularly virulent essay on AJ's website, he had
it removed.


6. (C) HBJ then voluntarily said that Karen Hughes needs to
have a better interview on AJ than the one she had while in
Cairo. The interviewer that day, he said, "asked the wrong
questions." He offered her another opportunity to go on the
air but this time to be interviewed by "the right people". He
said, "It is important that we know what she wants so we can
have the right result."

--------------
Embassy Comment
--------------


7. (C) HBJ characterized his 23 September meeting in
Washington with Sec Rice as "not bad, not excellent". He
hopes to see the Secretary at the Forum for the Future in
Bahrain in November and would like her to visit Qatar while
in the area. (Note: Sec Rice spent a night in Doha on her
return from Iraq in mid-May, at which time she called Heir
Apparent Sheikh Tamim and promised she would come back for a
formal visit sometime.) Starting with his meeting with
SecState, HBJ has shown an enhanced desire to remove Al
Jazeera as the principal blockage in bilateral relations. We
should therefore produce the non-paper on further changes at
the channel right away to take advantage of this apparent
earnestness. We should also notify Karen Hughes of his offer
for her to return to the Al Jazeera airwaves and to notify
Sec Rice's staff of the invitation (which I support) for her
to come to Qatar.
UNTERMEYER