Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05MUSCAT479
2005-03-22 12:31:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Muscat
Cable title:  

OMAN CONDEMNS QATAR TERROR ATTACK

Tags:  PTER PREL OPRC XF 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.
UNCLAS MUSCAT 000479 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR NEA, NEA/ARPI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PREL OPRC XF MU
SUBJECT: OMAN CONDEMNS QATAR TERROR ATTACK

UNCLAS MUSCAT 000479

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR NEA, NEA/ARPI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PREL OPRC XF MU
SUBJECT: OMAN CONDEMNS QATAR TERROR ATTACK


1. (U) The March 19 VBIED attack on a theater in Doha
provoked swift condemnation by the Omani government. A
Foreign Ministry statement (most likely penned by Under
Secretary Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi) released on March 20

SIPDIS
pledged the Sultanate's support for Qatar's security and its
protection against "such acts of absurdity." The Oman News
Agency carried block quotes of the release. "The Sultanate's
Government also condoles the families of the victims, wishes
swift recovery to those injured and prays to the Almighty to
save the sisterly state of Qatar from harm. The Sultanate
calls on all states in the region and the world to unite
against all acts of terrorism and work together to uproot the
phenomenon wherever it exists." Omani Arabic and English
dailies gave full coverage of the MFA, GCC and other regional
condemnations of the terror attack.


2. (SBU) When the matter has come up in conversations with
Emboffs, Omani contacts have been roundly critical of the
attack. State Council Vice President Shaykh Aflah al-Rawahi
shook with anger and emotion when discussing the terror
incident with a visiting US university official. Submissions
on the Internet message board Al Sablah, which rarely pass up
an opportunity to lay blame on the USG, were uniform in
denouncing the attack. Moreover, contributors expressed
concern that Oman could suffer a similar attack. The March
16 announcements allegedly from Saudi al-Qaeda figure Saleh
al-Oufi specifically calling for attacks on Oman, Qatar,
Bahrain, and UAE were frequently cited by worried writers,
many of whom presumed that the US military presence in Qatar
may have raised that country's profile among terrorists.
BALTIMORE