Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05MUSCAT258
2005-02-16 03:36:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Muscat
Cable title:  

OMAN CONDEMNS HARIRI ASSASSINATION

Tags:  PREL LE MU 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000258 

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR GOLDRICH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2015
TAGS: PREL LE MU
SUBJECT: OMAN CONDEMNS HARIRI ASSASSINATION

Classified By: Ambassador Richard L. Baltimore III.
Reason: 1.4 (b, d).

-------
Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000258

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR GOLDRICH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2015
TAGS: PREL LE MU
SUBJECT: OMAN CONDEMNS HARIRI ASSASSINATION

Classified By: Ambassador Richard L. Baltimore III.
Reason: 1.4 (b, d).

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (SBU) The Foreign Ministry quickly issued a statement on
February 14 that condemned the murder of former Lebanese PM
Rafiq Hariri, mourned his loss and expressed confidence that
the crime would not undermine Lebanon's stability. MFA
contacts were loath to point fingers of blame, but expressed
great concern that Lebanon not be allowed to descend again
into civil war. One official privately speculated that
Lebanon will be increasingly intolerant of Syrian
interference in its domestic affairs as a result. Press
coverage was generally straight, but some limited traffic on
a popular Internet message board suggested an U.S. or Israeli
hand in Hariri's murder. End summary.

--------------
MFA Quick to Condemn
--------------


2. (U) Oman's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement
to the Oman News Agency (ONA) on the evening of February 14
that condemned the assassination by car bomb of former
Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri in Beirut. The text of the ONA
report is as follows:

(Begin text:)

The Government of the Sultanate of Oman has strongly
condemned the terrorist act of assassination of former
Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said
that this crime, no matter how heinous, would not affect the
stability and prosperity enjoyed by the brotherly state of
Lebanon.

"The martyrdom of Al Hariri is a huge loss, not only at the
Lebanese level, but also at the level of the Arab region and
the world at large," said the statement.

The Omani government is expressing its condolences and
sympathies to the Lebanese Government in general and the
family of Al Hariri in particular, continued the statement,
which also voiced prayers for the soul of Al Hariri and the
other victims.

(End text.)

The MFA is selective in choosing which international events
to hail or condemn, as the case may be, so it is telling that
they moved so quickly to issue a statement in this case. The
Ministry's usual practice is not to divulge the actual text
of its statement, leaving the ONA's version of the wording
the only source from which to draw.

--------------
Officials Not Pointing Fingers, But...
--------------


3. (C) MFA Under Secretary Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi expressed
to DCM at a February 15 lunch his shock at Hariri's murder,
but would not entertain speculation at this point as to who
may have been responsible. He hoped the murder would not
ignite a string of tit-for-tat killings that might spark
wider sectarian violence. MFA International Organizations
Director Ambassador Talib Miran al-Raisi offered his private
views in a February 15 meeting with Pol/Econ Chief. Saying
he had met Hariri on a few previous occasions, Ambassador
Talib welcomed both the USG and MFA statements condemning his
murder. He urged that the police investigation be allowed to
take its course before blame is assigned. Confident that the
murder will not plunge Lebanon back into civil war, Talib
Miran did see this event as fueling Lebanese consensus that
the time for permitting Syrian interference in its internal
affairs is over. Hind Bahwan, a prominent businesswoman from
one of the leading commercial families, told EconOff that she
was staying only a block away from the site of Hariri's
murder but fortunately had left Beirut to return to Muscat
just a few hours before the bombing.

-------------- -
Low-Key Public Reactions Point to U.S., Israel
-------------- -


4. (SBU) News of Hariri's murder made the headlines of all
local Arabic and English-language dailies, though the MFA
statement was issued after some of the papers had already
gone to press. The government-owned Arabic daily "Oman" ran
a lead editorial February 15 condemning Hariri's murder under
the rubric "A Hideous Crime." The editorial hailed Hariri's
role in rebuilding Lebanon, and urged that nation not to give
in to conspiracies aimed at reigniting sectarian fighting.


5. (SBU) Omani public attention to the news has not been
voluminous. There were only a couple dozen postings on a
popular Internet message board in reference to Hariri's
murder. All of the messages mourned his loss, hailed his
good deeds for Lebanon and prayed for his soul. Some of the
entries blamed the U.S. or "the Jews" for his murder, and
others ruled out any Syrian hand in the crime. One
contributed pointed to the Administration's condemnation of
the assassination as proof that the "Black House" will target
Syria as the next Arab state to attack.
BALTIMORE