S E C R E T ABU DHABI 002782

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP, PM/PPA - RUSSELL AND AVERILL,
EB/ESC/IEC/EPC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 7/5/2016
TAGS: ENRG KCIP ECON PREL PINS PTER AE
SUBJECT: CRITICAL ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY STRATEGY

REF: A. SECSTATE 106922


B. ABU DHABI 1724

C. 05 ABU DHABI 4367

Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison for reasons 1.4 (b and d).


1. (S) On July 5, Ambassador delivered ref A demarche to
Yousef Al-Otaiba, Director of International Affairs for Abu
Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MbZ),
who attended the April meeting at which Assistant to the
President for Homeland Security and Counter Terrorism
(APHSCT) Frances Fragos Townsend raised the subject of
critical energy infrastructure protection with MbZ.
Al-Otaiba's initial response to the proposal of sending a
risk assessment team to the UAE was favorable, although he
noted that two U.S. security consulting firms (which he
declined to name) were already conducting risk assessments of
critical infrastructure. Al-Otaiba also said that Abu Dhabi
was also looking at the vulnerability of ports and "water"
(i.e. desalinization plants) infrastructure.


2. (S) Al-Otaiba specifically asked Ambassador not to deliver
the demarche to the Ministries of Energy and Interior. He
said that these organizations would receive "an instruction"
from the Crown Prince's office about the proposal. He
promised to inform MbZ to start the approach. According to
Al-Otaiba, the person best able to provide an overview of the
UAE's efforts to protect its critical infrastructure is
Brigadier Issa Al-Mazroui, Director General of Military
Intelligence. He added that the Ministry of Interior played
only a small (i.e., police) part in protecting critical
infrastructure. Ambassador and DATT are requesting a meeting
with Al-Mazroui to follow up.
SISON