AMBASSADOR KHALILZAD'S MEETING WITH SAUDI

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 RIYADH 000289

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR ZEYA
DEPT FOR NEA/ARP (WALKER, SHUKAN, JACHIM),INL, DRL, PRM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2017
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV PBTS MOPS SA IZ IR LE
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR KHALILZAD'S MEETING WITH SAUDI
ASSISTANT MINISTER OF INTERIOR MUHAMMAD BIN NAYEF, JANUARY
30

Classified By: Ambassador James C. Oberwetter for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

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SUMMARY
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1. (S) On January 30, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay
Khalilzad, U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
(KSA) James C. Oberwetter, and the DCM met with Assistant
Minister of Interior for Security Affairs HRH Prince
Mohammed bin Naif to discuss recent developments in, and
SAG views on, Iraq. Prince Mohammed repeatedly stressed
that the SAG wants a united, stable, and peaceful Iraq. He
emphasized that he does not trust Iraqi Prime Minister
Maliki and that Maliki's actions have shown a lack of
respect for the KSA, especially by the timing of the
execution of Saddam Hussein, which could have put the Hajj
at risk. In response to Prince Mohammed's concerns about
Saudis held by the Iraqi government, Ambassador Khalilzad
promised to provide further information. Prince Mohammed
said that the KSA is under a high terrorist threat and that
terrorists cross into the KSA from Iraq. END SUMMARY.

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Iraqi Troops and Police
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2. (S) In response to Prince Mohammed's question about
the status of Iraqi troops, Ambassador Khalilzad said that
they are being carefully screened and retrained to respect
human rights, including how to treat people well.
Ambassador Khalilzad said that Iraqi troops are being
vetted and re-vetted as individuals and units. Troops,
especially officers, with questionable loyalty to the Iraqi
government are being removed. Prince Mohammed and
Ambassador Khalilzad agreed that it is important that Iraqi
troops work for a united Iraq. Prince Mohammed
acknowledged the challenge of bringing security and
stability to Iraq, which in turn depends on achieving
consensus agreement on big issues. He stressed the
importance of gaining control of Baghdad and the loyalty of
all Iraqi security forces and police.


3. (S) Prince Mohammed stressed that when the SAG trained
its 1,000 man strong Special Security Forces to fight
terrorism, it provided a lot of lectures explaining why
they had to fight terrorists, especially domestic
terrorists, and that they must demonstrate loyalty to the
country and king above all else. He explained that this
training convinced his men to fight for the country without
hesitation, even if a member of his own tribe or family was
a terrorist. He stressed that in this training it is
important to tell the truth always and be consistent. He
said that leaders must have the respect of their security
forces. He emphasized that the leadership of the police
must be respected, credible, and obeyed. He said he does
not know the current chief of Iraqi police but that his
predecessor was a problem.


4. (S) Prince Mohammed stressed that the current Iraqi
Interior Minister is from a "good family" and has "good
values." He said the interior ministers of Iraq's
neighbors, even Iran, signed an agreement stating that no
country should interfere in the internal affairs of Iraq,
even including training. (Note: A July 2006 meeting in
Jeddah between the MOI and Iraq's neighbors produced
this non-interference agreement. End note.) They also
agreed that if Iraq needed help, it would ask. However,
no requests have been received.

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Effect of Saddam Hussein's Hanging on Hajj
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5. (S) Prince Mohammed stressed that the government of
Iraq had shown a lack of respect for the government of
Saudi Arabia when it hanged Saddam Hussein on the first day
of the Eid. He said the Iraqi government did not consult
with or warn the Saudi government. He said that the effect
was very negative. He said that he would never respect
Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki or his government, and that he
would never shake Maliki's hand. He said the way Hussein
was executed gave him an ending he should not have had and
did not deserve. Most importantly, the timing of the

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execution could have jeopardized the Hajj. He said that
fortunately there were no demonstrations because of the
hanging, but that with 35,000 Iraqi Hajj pilgrims in Mecca
at the time, things could have easily gotten out of
control, thus endangering the lives of all 3.8 million
pilgrims and the 60,000 security forces protecting them.
He said that if the Maliki government acted intentionally
then it was bad, but if it acted unintentionally it was
even worse.

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800 Kilometer Iraqi-Saudi Border
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6. (S) Prince Mohammed stressed that the KSA shares an
800 kilometer border with Iraq. He said that the entire
burden for patrolling the border falls on the SAG. He
pointed out that the same tribe (Beni Shammar, i.e., sons
of Sumer or Sumerians) live in both Iraq and the KSA. He
said that the SAG sometimes arrests people trying to cross
the border. He noted that problems along the Iraqi-Saudi
border are not as bad as along the Yemeni-Saudi border.

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Saudi Detainees in Iraq
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7. (S) Prince Mohammed said the SAG is not worried about
Saudi detainees held by the U.S., but is worried about
those held by the Iraqi government. Ambassador Khalilzad
promised to provide further information on these
detainees. Prince Mohammed said that it is important to
the SAG to find out who financed Saudis fighting in Iraq
and who brought them there.

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Shi'a in the KSA
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8. (S) Prince Mohammed said that the SAG talked to all
Shi'a leaders in the Eastern Province in order to ensure
that they remain calm despite what happens in Iraq. He
said there has been no evidence of Iraqi Shi'a, or even
Iranian Shi'a, trying to stir up Saudi Shi'a. However, the
SAG has not ruled out this possibility, and so it is
emphasizing Saudi nationalism over religious affiliation.
The Shi'a were urged not to react to any inflammatory
statements made by Sunnis in the KSA. He also noted that
the MOI is prepared to act in a calm, controlled manner if
there are Shi'a-Sunni problems in the KSA. The SAG is
carefully stressing to everyone that security and stability
are more important than personal feelings about the
government or its leaders.

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Terrorism Threat
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9. (S) Prince Mohammed said that the KSA is under a high
terrorist threat. He said that "bad" people are arrested
every day. For example, ten to twelve days ago, four Saudi
and two Iraqi terrorists came to the KSA from Iraq, but were
captured by SAG forces. The SAG is deeply concerned with
bleedback of fighters from Iraq as potentially very
dangerous.
He said that Lebanon is also a source of terrorism, and that
Al-Qaeda is "based" there, having shifted some elements from
Iraq to Lebanon. He also said that the SAG is prepared to
match this threat by assisting the Lebanese Security Forces
affiliated with Prime Minister Siniora and the Future
Movement
leader Sa'ad Hariri .

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COMMENT
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10. (S) Prince Mohammed emphasized that a stable,
peaceful, united Iraq is one of the KSA's vital interests.
He appeared confident that Sunni-Shi'a violence in Iraq
will not be replicated in the KSA. However, the fighting
and instability in Iraq are making it possible for
terrorists to cross the border into the KSA. END COMMENT.


11. (C) Ambassador Khalilzad has cleared this message.

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OBERWETTER