Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05STATE149626
2005-08-12 15:20:00
SECRET
Secretary of State
Cable title:  

STAUNCHING THE FLOW OF SAUDI SUICIDE BOMBERS TO

Tags:  PGOV PTER PREL UK JO GCCC 
pdf how-to read a cable
O 121520Z AUG 05
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY LONDON IMMEDIATE 
AMEMBASSY AMMAN IMMEDIATE 
GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
S E C R E T STATE 149626 


E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/08/15
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL UK JO GCCC
SUBJECT: STAUNCHING THE FLOW OF SAUDI SUICIDE BOMBERS TO
IRAQ

REFS: A) STATE 136754 B) RIYADH 5328

CLASSIFIED BY NEA DAS GORDON GRAY FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D).


S E C R E T STATE 149626


E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/08/15
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL UK JO GCCC
SUBJECT: STAUNCHING THE FLOW OF SAUDI SUICIDE BOMBERS TO
IRAQ

REFS: A) STATE 136754 B) RIYADH 5328

CLASSIFIED BY NEA DAS GORDON GRAY FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D).



1. (U) This is an action request. See paragraphs 3-10.

SUMMARY



2. (S) The Saudis have been aggressive in their public
condemnation of the 7/7 London bombings, the murder of the
Egyptian diplomat in Baghdad, and the Sharm al-Shaykh
attacks. We should urge the Saudis to sustain the public
campaign discrediting Iraqi insurgents and denouncing
extremism. The Department requests Posts approach host
government officials at an appropriate level to provide
the following points. END SUMMARY.

-------------- ---
PUBLIC DELEGITIMATION CAMPAIGN AND TRAVEL TO IRAQ
-------------- ---


3. Begin Points. For Embassy Riyadh:


Intro:

-- Iraq is the President's highest priority. We appreciate
the help you have offered to date. But we are at a
critical moment. It is imperative that all of us, in
particular our Arab friends, ratchet up our efforts.

-- The President is convinced that one of the best tools
we have to defeat Iranian influence and encourage Sunni
Arab participation is a maximum effort by the Sunni Arab
states to engage the Iraqi government.

-- We know the situation is dangerous. But Americans and
Iraqis have been dying in large numbers to secure a
democratic future for Iraq. We do not believe it is asking
too much for our best Arab allies to take some risks as
well in their service of a mission that will benefit us
all.

(S-Rel KSA) Encourage the following:

-- Suggest Saudi religious authorities continue to
highlight that suicide and suicide bombings as seen in
Iraq are impermissible in Islam.

-- Include the concept of family shame over the
terrorist/extremist activities of relatives.

-- Pass a law that relatives and friends who had any
knowledge of a prospective suicide bomber's activities or

who did anything to facilitate their activities (including
travel to Iraq) could face criminal liability.

-- Focus on need for Saudis to protect the reputation of
Islam as a religion of peace, their personal honor, and to
prevent their sons being led into error.

-- Encourage Saudis to issue public advisories that any

Saudi nationals traveling to Iraq without proper legal
status could be jailed for life once there, noting that
Iraqi courts have already handed down such sentences to
some Saudis who entered illegally.

(S-Rel KSA) Restrict Saudi-Iraq Travel. Urge the Saudis
to do the following to restrict travel to Iraq:

-- Announce and publicize that Saudi nationals are
permitted entry into Iraq only via the official Saudi-
Iraqi border posts.

-- Request regional assistance (chiefly from Syria and
Yemen) to enforce the restriction.

-- Publicize stiff penalties under Iraqi law for those
Saudis traveling to Iraq via other countries; Urge passage
of Saudi law, if necessary, to punish such movement
severely.

-- As an interim measure, support Saudi efforts to have
Syria impose a visa requirement on Saudi citizens
traveling to Iraq through Syria.

-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SAUDI RECOGNITION OF THE IRAQI GOVERNMENT
-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



4. For Embassy Riyadh:

(S) Urge the Saudis, in cooperation with the ITG, to do
the following:

-- Extend an immediate invitation to Iraqi PM Ja'afari to
visit Riyadh to discuss common concerns and interests.
Important that SAG work with the democratically elected
government of Iraq.

-- Notwithstanding the campaign by al-Qa'ida in Iraq to
target diplomatic officials, appoint and send to Baghdad
an ambassador to Iraq immediately and to make clear,
official statements in support of the democratically
elected ITG. Should it be impossible to dispatch an
ambassador to Iraq in the near-term, proceed nevertheless
with the symbolic action of naming a senior official as
Saudi Ambassador.


-- Urge Saudis to reduce Iraqi debt beyond the Paris Club
agreements citing the desperate need for additional Iraqi
economic development and reconstruction.

--------------

OUTREACH TO IRAQ'S SUNNIS
--------------


5. For Embassy Riyadh and Embassy Baghdad:

(S) Encourage the following:

-- Saudis reaching out to all Iraqis, especially in the
Sunni community, urging them to renounce violence
unambiguously and participate peacefully in the political
process. At the same time, very important to engage with
the ITG and begin building relationships for the long-
term.
--------------
AL SAUD VISIT TO BAGHDAD


6. For Embassy Riyadh:

(S) A senior Al Saud figure (e.g., King Abdullah, Crown
Prince Sultan, Foreign Minister Saud al-Faysal or
Assistant Minister of Interior Muhammad bin Nayif) should
be encouraged to travel to Baghdad in the near term to
denounce the insurgency and to pledge Saudi support for
the new Iraqi Government and its fight against terrorists.
This visit and pledge should include a Saudi-led and
funded capacity-building initiative to improve the
capabilities of the Iraqi CT services. Such a visit might
also coincide with the naming of a Saudi ambassador to
Baghdad.

--------------
JOINT BORDER POSTS AND TRAINING
--------------


7. For Embassy Riyadh and Embassy Baghdad:

(S) With CENTCOM assistance as appropriate, encourage
joint border initiatives between Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
These efforts would have the added benefit of
demonstrating to the King that we take his concerns,
voiced repeatedly to US officials, over Iraqi insurgents
coming into the Kingdom seriously:

-- Cultivate trust among and increase effectiveness of
Iraqi and Saudi border control services by encouraging
joint training, the use of common databases, documentation
standards, and procedures, and possibly even jointly
manned border checkpoints.

-- Establish regular intelligence exchanges between the
two border services as well as the exchange of
immigration/customs personnel.

-- Provide necessary training, equipment or other
assistance to bolster Iraqi/Saudi border control efforts.

--------------
GCC INITIATIVES
--------------


8. For GCC Embassies:

(S) Urge GCC governments to announce that they will
establish a fund to assist Iraqis wounded by suicide
bombings-focusing on women, children, and Iraqi police-for
medical treatment and recovery; include extensive media
coverage with interviews of victims giving their personal
stories and GCC leaders visiting them in their hospital
beds. In addition, encourage GCC governments to establish
a fund for the families of Iraqi security personnel killed
in action.

(S) The State Department will push the OIC Conference (to
be held in Jeddah in December 2005) agenda to examine ways
to discourage the suicide attack phenomenon in Iraq and to
issue a clear denunciation of the practice.


9. For Embassy Amman, Embassy Riyadh, and Embassy Baghdad:

(S) Use the momentum of the recent meeting convened by
Jordan's King Abdullah which brought together more than
170 clerics and religious leaders to highlight their
desire to promote the "true image of Islam." The
declaration limits the issuance of religious edicts and
calls for the global Muslim community to unify against
threats to its integrity.

MULTILATERAL OPPORTUNITIES



10. For Embassy London, Embassy Riyadh, Embassy Amman, and
Embassy Baghdad:

(S) With CENTCOM assistance as appropriate, develop a
joint approach among the U.S., UK, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and
Jordan to press the Syrian Government to shut down the
pipelines used by jihadists and suicide bombers to enter
Iraq.

End points.


RICE