MBR CHARITY ESTABLISHMENT PROMISES TO END COOPERATION WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBAI 002853

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 5/20/2016
TAGS: PTER KTFN PARM MCAP IR AE
SUBJECT: MBR CHARITY ESTABLISHMENT PROMISES TO END COOPERATION WITH
HUMAN APPEAL INTERNATIONAL

REF: ABU DHABI 2081

CLASSIFIED BY: Jason L. Davis, Consul General, Dubai, UAE.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (C) SUMMARY: Ibrahim Bu Melha, SecGen of the MBR Humanitarian
and Charity Establishment (MBRE),told CG May 13 that MBRE was
partnering on projects in Palestine with Human Appeal
Internation (HAI),an Ajman-based organization that he had just
heard was problematic for the USG. When CG informed him that
the USG had serious concerns about HAI, and that we strongly
recommended that MBRE disengage from it, Bu Melha immediately
agreed to do so. No new projects would be signed; clinics and
schools currently in the final phases of construction would be
completed within four to six months. Bu Melha said the SecGen
of HAI believed his organization was "100 percent clean" and was
eager to open his books to the US, and to learn first hand of
any problems so they could be remedied. Bu Melha also provided
assurance that millions of dollars of recently announced medical
assistance to Palestinians would be in-kind, and that no funds
would be sent. End Summary.

Seeking Guidance on HAI
--------------


2. (C) On May 13 Consul General paid a farewell call on Ibrahim
Bu Melha, SecGen of Mohammed bin Rashid Humanitarian and Charity
Foundation (MBRE),a respected local charity that prides itself
on its squeaky clean record. Bu Melha said he had recently
become aware (likely from the Dubai Security Services -- see
reftel) that the USG had concerns with Human Appeal
International (HAI),and was concerned because MBRE was
currently partnered with HAI (which he consistently referred to
in Arabic as Hayat al-A'amal al-Khairiya, roughly "Benevolent
Works Organization") on the construction of schools, clinics and
hospitals in Palestine (Jebalya, Jenin, Ramallah and Nablus).
MBRE was also on the verge of signing several new agreements for
joint projects.


3. (C) Bu Melha said that prior to partnering with HAI (with
which MBRE had previously worked on humanitarian projects in
Iraq) he had carefully studied the U.N. and U.S. lists of
"banned" charities, and was certain that HAI did not appear on
the lists. Furthermore, HAI was a "very respected"
organization, headquartered in the nearby emirate of Ajman, that
was working with equally respectable partners in many countries,
including Sudan, where it had a "300 person office" in
partnership with the United Nations. Bu Melha said he was
seeking CG's guidance on the advisability of continuing to work
with HAI, and particularly on the advisability of expanding
cooperation in Palestine, where the needs were "urgent." MBRE
could not work there without a partner like HAI, "which has
offices and accountable employees here in the UAE, and is also
on the ground in Palestine." CG told Bu Melha it was his
understanding that HAI was a problematic group. He urged that
MBRE not proceed with signing any new agreements with HAI until
further guidance could be obtained from Washington.

MBRE To Disengage
--------------


4. (C) On May 17, after receiving talking points from the
Department, CG met with Bu Melha a second time to inform him
that the USG indeed had serious concerns about HAI. While we
were unfortunately not in a position to make those concerns
public at this point, we strongly recommended that MBRE
disengage from projects and cooperation with HAI. CG also
shared with Bu Melha some of the many steps the USG was taking
to provide increased humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian
people. Bu Melha immediately agreed to disengage with HAI. No
new agreements would be signed, and no new projects started.
Schools and clinics already being built, many in an advanced
state of construction, would be completed, but no new ones would
be started. He estimated that it would take "four to six months"
until the remaining projects were completed, at which point the
disengagement would be complete.

HAI Eager to Cooperate with USG
--------------


5. (C) Bu Melha said that he knew HAI SecGen Salem Ahmed Al
Nuaimi personally, and was virtually certain that both he and
his organization had been "100 percent clean" from the
beginning. HAI had never knowingly cooperated with any
extremist group, including Hamas; "in fact, Hamas is angry at
them for refusing to cooperate on projects in Palestine," Bu
Melha asserted. Nuaimi had also become aware of USG concerns
about his group, according to Bu Melha, and was eager to "open
all his books" to the USG so that any problem areas could be
remedied. Nuaimi's message to the U.S., according to Bu Melha,
was "please come to me, I want to cooperate fully with you -- I

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will hold no information back."

Medical Assistance to Gaza to Be In-Kind
--------------


6. (C) On a separate issue, Bu Melha earlier emphasized that the
UAED 10 million (USD 2.7 million) in assistance that MBRE would
be providing to the Palestinian people would be in-kind
assistance, mainly medicines and medical supplies. None of the
funds would be sent to the Palestinian territories; instead, the
funds would be transferred to third-country accounts of
companies (mainly Egyptian and Jordanian) that had the capacity
to deliver medical supplies inside Palestine. The possibility of
purchasing medicines in Egypt and trucking them to Gaza had been
broached with the Egyptian authorities, but no response had yet
been received. In either case MBRE would insist on
accountability, in the form of receipts from both the company
and the receiving clinic or hospital that the supplies were
actually delivered.
DAVIS