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 DUBAI 00002853 002 OF 002 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