Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PORTOFSPAIN272
2006-03-02 18:36:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Port Of Spain
Cable title:  

T&T FM NONCOMMITTAL ON US-RECOMMENDED BEHAVIOR

Tags:  PREL 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0010
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSP #0272 0611836
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 021836Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6496
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT OF SPAIN 000272 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, NEA/IPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/02/2016
TAGS: PREL
SUBJECT: T&T FM NONCOMMITTAL ON US-RECOMMENDED BEHAVIOR
TOWARD HAMAS

REF: SECSTATE 27174

Classified By: POL: ARABBY FOR 1.4 (b/d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT OF SPAIN 000272

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, NEA/IPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/02/2016
TAGS: PREL
SUBJECT: T&T FM NONCOMMITTAL ON US-RECOMMENDED BEHAVIOR
TOWARD HAMAS

REF: SECSTATE 27174

Classified By: POL: ARABBY FOR 1.4 (b/d)


1. (C) Ambassador called on Trinidad and Tobago (T&T)
Foreign Minister Knowlson Gift, on March 1, to present him
with Reftel talking points regarding official contact with
representatives of the newly-elected Hamas government of the
Palestinian Authority. The Ambassador noted the US and EU
designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization and stated
the US policy of no contact with Hamas representatives as
long as Hamas does not fulfill the Quartet,s preconditions:
renounce violence, recognize Israel,s right to exist and
abide by commitments and obligations already agreed to by the
Palestinian Authority.


2. (C) The Ambassador urged Gift to avoid political-level
meetings with Hamas representatives and to remind any Hamas
delegation seeking support and legitimacy that, unless Hamas
accepts the Quartet,s preconditions, it will be increasingly
isolated and will likely lose all donor support. The
Ambassador specifically emphasized that only a united front
by the international community against Hamas can ensure the
continued viability of the roadmap toward a negotiated
two-state solution and can maximize the chances for peace.


3. (C) Gift responded coolly. He wondered if the
precondition of recognizing Israel,s right to exist was
&reasonable8, and asked if the US threat of the loss of
donor support included humanitarian relief. The Ambassador
said that, as in the case of the admittedly ill-fated
oil-for-food arrangement with Iraq, the US will always find
ways of maintaining the supply of humanitarian aid to the
Palestinian people, while penalizing their government. Gift
said that, although he has heard of some unclearly identified
Palestinian group in Belize, there seems to be no organized
Palestinian group in T&T, and he has certainly not met with
any Hamas representatives.


4. (C) COMMENT: Enlisting GOTT support for US positions on
the Middle East conflict has always been problematic,
possibly because of T&T's traditional status as a non-aligned
nation. Alternatively, the difficulty may lie in the
country's ethnic profile. T&T,s Muslim minority numbers
approximately 60,000 (or some 5% of the total population),
and includes very successful Syrian and Lebanese communities
as well as the extremist Jamaat-al-Muslimeen group whose
leader, Imam Yasin Abu Bakr, is currently in jail, awaiting
trial on charges of terrorism, sedition and incitement to
violence. The existence of a Muslim/Arab minority does not
prevent the GOTT from doing business with Israel: Israel has
sold T&T state-of-the-art radar technology for drug
interdiction purposes, and in November 2005, Prime Minister
Patrick Manning visited Israel on a mission whose purpose has
never been entirely clear. Manning was roundly criticized for
that trip by certain segments of the political class, so it
is possible that the GOTT may have decided to give the Middle
East conflict a wide berth, unless an overt demonstration of
links with Israel or support for US Middle East policy are
clearly in T&T,s national interest.
AUSTIN