SHEIKH AHMED DEFERS DECISION ON CEIP ASSESSMENT

S E C R E T ABU DHABI 000564 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR S/CT (FEIRSTEIN),NEA/ARP, EEB/ESC/IEC/EPC ENERGY FOR SENIOR FOREIGN POLICY ADVISOR (MOLLY WILLIAMSON),SENIOR ADVISOR GETTO AND DAS BRODMAN OVP FOR KEVIN O'DONOVAN NSC FOR ZARATE E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2017 TAGS: EPET ENRG EINV PTER AE SUBJECT: SHEIKH AHMED DEFERS DECISION ON CEIP ASSESSMENT REF: ABU DHABI 474 Classified By: AMBASSADOR MICHELE J. SISON FOR REASONS 1.4 B & D. ¶1. (S) Embassy has received a formal response from the Commander of the UAE's Critical National Infrastructure Force, Sheikh Ahmed bin Tahnoun Al-Nahyan to our written proposal to have a team of experts visit Abu Dhabi's two largest oil facilities. ¶2. (S) Begin Text Your Excellency, Thank you for your letter dated on the 25th March, in which you are proposing to send a team of experts to help in analyzing our critical infrastructure. We very much appreciate your concern for the stability and security in the region, as well as your continuous effort in this respect. A request of this nature must be considered and authorized by a higher authority, namely the Chief of Staff, UAE Armed Forces. Once again, I would like to thank you for your concern and continued interest. End Text ¶3. (S) We have sent a follow-on letter to the Chief of Staff of the UAE armed forces requesting approval to send a team. We have also reminded him that Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection was a topic at the October 19 Gulf Security Dialogue (GSD) Meeting, at which he led the UAE delegation. It is also likely to be on the agenda for the upcoming May 7 GSD. SISON