SCENESETTER FOR U/S ROBERT JOSEPH'S VISIT TO DOHA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000465

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2016
TAGS: PREL MARR KNNP QA
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR U/S ROBERT JOSEPH'S VISIT TO DOHA

Classified By: Ambassador Chase Untermeyer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Embassy Doha is pleased to welcome you. You will find
the Qatari foreign minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani
(HBJ),will be interested to meet you to further the nascent
Strategic Dialogue put forth by Counselor Zelikow during his
visit March 20-21. HBJ will be particularly interested in
discussing Iran. He met with Ahmedi-Nejad in Tehran on
January 23, where he gave the message that Qatar would not
break ranks with other UN Security Council members on the
nuclear issue. The Iranian Foreign Minister visited Doha on
March 22. HBJ expressed complete agreement with Counselor
Zelikow on the dangers Iran poses to the region. HBJ is
familiar with some of the non-proliferation agreements you
might raise; you should inquire when Qatar might ratify these
agreements. Generally, he has indicated that an improved
climate for the bilateral relationship is the key. Qatar is
an invaluable ally for our military efforts in Iraq and
Afghanistan; on a wider range of issues, Qatar has staked a
more independent path. It views its new seat on the UN
Security Council with the optic of responsibility toward a
range of developing world and Arab "clients."


2. (U) The First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister,
Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani (addressed as Your Excellency or
Mr. Minister),is the key decision-maker on the issues you
plan to raise. In consultation with you, we will also request
meetings with the Heir Apparent, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al
Thani, and the Chief of Staff of the Qatar Armed Forces, Maj
Gen Hamad bin Ali al-Attiyah. We would also like to organize
a media event, with either Al Jazeera or local and regional
newspapers. The paragraphs that follow provide further
background on key issues of interest.

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Article 98
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3. (C) A/S Rademaker raised signing an Article 98 Agreement
with the Assistant Minister for Follow-Up Affairs, Mohamed
al-Rumaihy, during his visit in January. Rumaihy said that
the matter is primarily handled on the military side and that
the GOQ is reviewing the matter. When A/S Bloomfield met with
HBJ in October 2004, the FM made clear that he would sign an
agreement right after the U.S. declares Qatar a Major
Non-NATO Ally. Qatar is already a much bigger ally than some
countries that already have this designation; it would be
worth probing DOD colleagues to determine current views on
this issue as it pertains to Qatar.

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PSI
---


4. (C) Also with al-Rumaihy, A/S Rademaker urged Qatar to
endorse the Statement of Interdiction Principles. Rumaihy
said that at the time Qatar last considered PSI, there were
no Arab states signed on. He requested a list of Arab and
Asian supporters of PSI, which the Embassy subsequently
provided. The Qataris have voiced no other objections to the
initiative; you may be able to make progress on this here.

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Chemical Weapons Convention
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5. (C) From October 2004 through October 2005, the Qatari MFA
was unresponsive to requests to discuss challenge
inspections. Qatari authorities balked at meeting a CWC
Challenge Inspections negotiating team from Washington last
December, and a meeting request on this issue has been
pending for over a month. If you have time to bring this
issue up with the minister, we will be able to determine
whether the problems are bureaucratic in nature or whether
the Qataris are holding back for tactical reasons.

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Iran
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6. (U) Traditional Qatari regional diplomacy seeks to keep
lines open to all neighbors. Foreign Minister Manoucher
Mokatti met the Amir in Doha on March 22; at a press
opportunity, he defended Iran's right to pursue nuclear
weapons and said the U.S. position does not have the support
of the majority in the UN Security Council. HBJ met the
Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmedi-Nejad, delivering a verbal
message from the Qatari Amir, on Tehran January 23. Qatari
official press reported that HBJ described, in a press
conference, Qatari-Iranian relations as "good in the gas and
oil sectors, especially in terms of the South Pars Field."
(Note. This is the Iranian name for what Qataris call the
North Field, the largest single gas field in the world and

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shared by the two countries.) He said the two countries' gas
agreement was a model for building "brotherly" relations.


7. (C) In their meeting March 20, HBJ agreed strongly with
Dr. Zelikow's analysis of Iran's revolutionary motivations
and goals, noting Iran's active support for subversive
elements in Bahrain, Kuwait, Yemen, and eastern Saudi Arabia.
HBJ added that while the Iranian public does not support the
regime's foreign policy goals writ large, the U.S. should not
underestimate the degree of domestic support for the nuclear
program based on a nationalistic agenda.


8. (S) HBJ said the GCC is ready to come forward and
coordinate on regional security. Qatar is working with
neighbors, and meetings are happening that are not reported
publicly. He believes that five GCC countries can get
together at the ministerial level, including military
representatives. Following these initial internal
discussions, the group would meet with a U.S. representative,
possibly at HBJ's London residence, and possibly within the
next month.

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Iraq
--------------


9. (S) Qatar has been a pillar of support for our efforts in
Iraq and Afghanistan. We continue, for instance, to fly
unimpeded combat missions out of Al-Udeid Air Base. The Amir
shares our view that restoration of order and a successful
democratic transition are of paramount importance not only to
Iraq but to the region. However, there is some feeling that
Qatar's efforts over the past two years are not fully
appreciated in Washington. The Foreign Minister has promised
the Ambassador recently that the GOQ would provide debt
relief to Iraq "at the right time." While the Foreign
Minister has expressed concerns of civil war in Iraq, he has
stated publicly that the coalition needs to stay in the
country to establish wider security. The GOQ also points to
the importance of establishing a power structure in Baghdad
that is fully inclusive of the Sunni bloc.


10. (C) Qatar has evaluated creating a $5 billion bank to
invest in - rather than grant money to - Iraq's industries,
such as oil, gas, and agriculture. The GOQ had commissioned a
study with the Bahrainis and Citibank; the Iraqi financial
expert who has charge of the proposal, Nemir Kirdar of
Investcorp, will be in New York shortly, and HBJ proposed
that he travel to Washington to brief U.S. officials on the
idea.

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Al-Jazeera
--------------


11. (S) In his recent visit, Counselor Zelikow said that he
had not traveled to Doha to discuss Al Jazeera and that the
U.S. was ready to "turn the page" on the tenor of the
relationship. Al Jazeera "creates an environment of
legitimacy for terrorists and appears to lend credibility to
their international call for attacks on US homeland and US
interests in the Middle East," according to the DIA. However,
the monitoring agency does not allege that Al Jazeera
directly jeopardizes Americans. In response to our repeated
protests and appeals, Al-Jazeera's management claims to have
reduced the air time given to Al-Qaida and kidnappers' videos
and have made efforts to address the inflammatory nature of
its reporting from Iraq. In February, Al Jazeera's negative
coverage of the U.S. in Iraq, as measured by DIA, stood at
13%. The channel has stressed to us its coverage of
pro-democracy movements in Lebanon and Egypt as well as
broader coverage of Middle Eastern politics. The Al Jazeera
managing director told the Ambassador, "If the Americans want
to find a proper partner in its effort to get democracy and
reform, they won't find a better one than Al Jazeera."

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Political Reform
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12. (U) Qatar's own program of reform, launched by the Amir
after he assumed power in 1995, took a significant step
forward last June when its first constitution came into
force. The constitution calls for a two-thirds elected
national legislature. These elections have not been scheduled
but are expected to take place sometime in early 2007. Qatari
women will have the right to vote and will be encouraged by
the government to run for office. In municipal elections in
1999 and 2003, women here were the first in the Gulf region
to cast votes, and one woman was elected to the council.
UNTERMEYER