HAMAS OFFICIAL VISITS OMAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L MUSCAT 000527

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, AND NEA/ARPI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2016
TAGS: PREL KPAL MU
SUBJECT: HAMAS OFFICIAL VISITS OMAN

REF: MUSCAT 443

Classified By: Ambassador Gary A. Grappo. Reason: 1.4 (b, d).


1. (C) Palestinian Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal arrived in
Muscat April 2 for two days of meetings with Omani government
leaders. A former senior USG official happened to witness
Meshaal's arrival via a special flight from Qatar, noting
that Meshaal was greeted in warm style at the airport by
Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi and
other MFA top personnel. In an April 2 meeting to receive a
copy of the Ambassador's credentials, the FM made no mention
of the impending arrival of Meshaal.


2. (C) As the Minister indicated to us in a March 22 meeting
with DCM (reftel),Meshaal was received by Deputy Prime
Minister Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmud al-Said, but very
deliberately not by the Sultan. Meshaal held a meeting April
3 with the President of Oman's elected parliamentary body,
the Majlis al-Shura (Consultative Council),and MFA
Undersecretary Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi also hosted the
delegation to lunch on April 3. The Deputy Director of the
Undersecretary's office assured Pol/Econ Chief that Sayyid
Badr underscored the same firm message to Meshaal as
delivered by the FM the previous evening: namely, that Hamas
must commit itself to peaceful dialogue, the roadmap, and
existing agreements with Israel. Local media coverage of the
visit was brief and perfunctory, though it did receive
front-page placement in all dailies, Arabic and English.
GRAPPO