UAE DEPUTY CHARGE IN BAGHDAD FREED BY CAPTORS

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 002242 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR S/I, NEA/I, AND NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PINS PTER MARR IZ AE SUBJECT: UAE DEPUTY CHARGE IN BAGHDAD FREED BY CAPTORS REF: A. ABU DHABI 2042 ¶B. ABU DHABI 2175 ¶C. ABU DHABI 1339 (NOTAL) ¶1. (U) UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed confirmed the release of UAE Deputy Charge d'Affaires Naji al-Nuaimi the evening of May 30. Al-Nuaimi was kidnapped May 16 by gunmen belonging to the previously unknown Banner of Islam group (refs A, B). One of his bodyguards, a Sudanese, was injured in the incident. Although the UAEG has yet to divulge the circumstances of al-Nuaimi's release, Dubai-based al-Arabiya television reported this afternoon that the UAE did not pay the kidnappers ransom. The UAE sent a private jet to Baghdad early this morning to bring al-Nuaimi home. President Khalifa greeted al-Nuaimi in al-Ain in the early afternoon local time, according to the local news agency. ¶2. (U) In his May 30 statement, Sheikh Abdullah expressed the UAE's "deep gratitude to the Iraqi government for its faithful efforts which culminated in the safe release of al-Nuaimi. We are also thankful to the various Iraqi political forces for their role in securing al-Nuaimi,s release, and to the sisterly Iraqi people for their appreciation of the UAE humanitarian role in Iraq." The UAE Red Crescent is one of the most active humanitarian organizations in Iraq. ¶3. (SBU) The UAEG particularly appreciated the Iraqi government's public condemnation of the kidnapping, Sultan al-Romeithy, top aide to Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, told Polchief. Al-Romeithy added that the UAE would stand by its commitment to rebuild Iraq. In addition to al-Nuaimi's kidnapping, gunmen had shot and killed two Iraqi employees of the UAE embassy in Baghdad on April 4 (ref C). ¶4. (U) Banner of Islam had called for "the closure of the UAE Embassy in Baghdad and the closure of the (Iraqi) television station al-Fayhah, which broadcasts from Dubai, two conditions for the liberation of al-Nuaimi," television station al-Jazeera quoted a statement as saying on May 23. Al-Nuaimi's kidnapping prompted widespread public condemnation in the UAE as well as extensive public expressions of support for al-Nuaimi published in UAE newspapers. SISON