Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MUSCAT1580
2006-11-14 06:22:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Muscat
Cable title:  

BLUE LANTERN RESPONSE FOR APPLICATION 050016241

Tags:  ETTC KOMC MU 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMS #1580 3180622
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 140622Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY MUSCAT
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 7392
UNCLAS MUSCAT 001580 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ARP, PM/DTCC - BLUE LANTERN COORDINATOR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETTC KOMC MU
SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN RESPONSE FOR APPLICATION 050016241

REF: STATE 176680

UNCLAS MUSCAT 001580

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ARP, PM/DTCC - BLUE LANTERN COORDINATOR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETTC KOMC MU
SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN RESPONSE FOR APPLICATION 050016241

REF: STATE 176680


1. (U) Per reftel, the Political/Economic section, in
conjunction with the Office of Military Cooperation,
conducted a pre-license check on Muscat-based General Stores
Trading, LLC. On October 29, Econoff met with Mohamed
al-Zaabi, the company's managing director. Zaabi, educated
at San Diego State University, confirmed that the company
would be supplying the Royal Army of Oman with 3 shafts, 2
switches, and 2 fan drive clutches for their M-60 tank fleet.
These items are to be purchased from International Parts
Supply Company, based in Minneapolis. He stated that the
company was a family business started by his father over 30
years ago. It currently has two partners, Mohamed and his
younger brother Ali, after his father and other brother,
Sadiq, passed away. The company has 25 employees. Aside
from its main headquarters and warehouse in the Wadi al-Kabir
commercial district of Muscat, General Stores Trading has a
branch office in Salalah.


2. (U) The company's main customers include the Ministry of
Defense, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Sultan's
Special Forces, Royal Flight, and the Diwan. It supplies
these government agencies with a wide range of products,
including sleeping bags, tents, flags, badges, blankets,
caps, shoes, and vehicle spare parts for Land Rovers. The
company does not keep defense-related items in stock, but
does keep small quantities of vehicle parts on-hand. All
stock is electronically tracked. Zaabi is pleased in
establishing this relationship as a supplier of spares for
the M-60, and noted with pride the recognition his company
received from the U.S. Army for its participation in a 2001
humanitarian demining course, sponsored by the Sultan's
Special Forces. He understood the importance of safeguarding
sensitive supplies, and requested a copy of USML regulations.



3. (U) The Ministry of Defense confirmed its relationship
with General Stores Trading. The Royal Army's Director
General for Logistics and Quartering, Habib al-Baluchi, noted
in a November 11 correspondence to the Office of Military
Cooperation that the company was a wholly-owned Omani company
based in Muscat, that the organization had made the purchase
order for the parts listed in paragraph 1, and that the
company was registered with the Ministry of Defense, with a
history of providing a range of items, including clothing,
shoes, bedding, tents, and spare parts for its vehicle fleet.
GRAPPO