DEMARCHE DELIVERED: TEMPORARY MECHANISM FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L MUSCAT 001001 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA AND NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2016 TAGS: PREL KPAL EAID IS MU SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: TEMPORARY MECHANISM FOR ASSISTANCE TO PALESTINIANS REF: STATE 100475 Classified By: Ambassador Gary A. Grappo. Reason: 1.4 (b, d). ¶1. (U) This is an action request for NEA; please see para 3. ¶2. (C) During a June 20 call on Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi, the Ambassador delivered reftel talking points on the new temporary international mechanism (TIM) for providing assistance to the Palestinians, encouraging the Sultanate about its use. The Minister responded with a flurry of questions concerning the actual implementation of the program and its intended beneficiaries, underscoring his unease that the TIM is not capable of providing for the urgent humanitarian needs of hungry Palestinians. He doubted it would be functional even by the end of the year, and sniffed at the word "temporary," saying that was how UNRWA was described in 1948. He also feared mismanagement or corruption as plagued the Iraq "Oil for Food" program. ¶3. (SBU) Action Request: Bin Alawi requested information on precisely which organizations (NGOs, UN agencies, etc.) will actually channel aid to the Palestinians, and a copy of the rules by which the TIM will operate. The responses to those questions would inform the Sultanate's decision on whether to channel its Palestinian assistance through the TIM. GRAPPO