UAE ON DOHA ARAB SUMMIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 000312

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/RA/JSKOVITCH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2019
TAGS: PREL EAID KPAL SU QA IS IR SY AE
SUBJECT: UAE ON DOHA ARAB SUMMIT

REFS: STATE 28323

Classified by Ambassador Richard Olson, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Ambassador shared reftel points on the Doha summit
with MFA and was told the UAE is looking for Arab solidarity.
Separately, UAE President Khalifa discussed key summit topics in a
press interview. End summary.


2. (C) Ambassador raised reftel points on the Doha summit with
Director of American and European Affairs Abdul Hameed Kathim (other
topics septel),handing him also a copy of a diplomatic note
stressing the criticality of dealing wisely with issues related to
Palestinian reconciliation, the Arab Peace Initiative, and NGO
activity in Sudan. Ambassador Kathim said the UAE was hoping to
improve Arab solidarity at the summit, which would hopefully be
attended by all Arabs (not Iranians).


3. (C) Ambassador Kathim did not clarify who will head the UAE
delegation in Doha (President Khalifa did not attend the most recent
summit there, likely due to Iranian participation). We understand
that Foreign Minister Abdullah does plan to attend but have no
further word on other UAE attendees.

UAE PRESIDENT'S REMARKS
--------------


4. (SBU) In a press interview in advance of the Doha summit, UAE
president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan said the UAE was looking
forward to the Arab Summit as an opportunity to mend fences in the
Arab world. He told a Qatari paper (Al-Watan) the summit will tackle
the Palestinian issue, Lebanon, and Iraq. Following are some of the
President's remarks (as presented by the UAEG's official news
agency),as they relate to the key topics of our demarche
(Palestinian reconciliation, Middle East peace, and Sudan).


5. (SBU) ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN ISSUE: Sheikh Khalifa called on the US,
European countries and others to put pressure on Israel to accept a
just solution to the Palestinian problem in line with the Arab Peace
Initiative. "We hope that the United States and European countries
would maintain pressure on Israel to force it to approve a just and
peaceful solution to the Palestinian cause. This is in harmony with
the Arab Peace Initiative which entails the creation of an
independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, in
return for a recognition of Israel. Extremists in Israel might well
opt for the peaceful solution at any time, if they seriously consider
a solution that would serve peace and stability in the whole region."


6. (SBU) PALESTINIAN RECONCILIATION AND NATIONAL UNITY: "We have
always expressed our belief in the importance of uniting ranks and
positions, not only within each Arab country, but also on the
Pan-Arab level. Therefore, it goes without saying that the United
Arab Emirates is sparing no efforts, both declared or undeclared, to
unite the ranks of the Palestinians and to support, in this regard,
all the good offices of Arab countries, in particular our big sister
country, Egypt, which has hosted the dialogue among Palestinians
factions. We call on our brother Palestinians to respond to those
efforts and good offices and to prioritize the higher national
interests over factional or partisan interests. We hope those
efforts would result in building a solid Palestinian position that
can meet the requirements of the coming stage, whether relevant to
the peace process or to the process of reconstruction.


7. (SBU) SUDAN: "We expressed our concern over the impact of the
decision taken by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the
stability of Sudan and the current political dialogue as well as on
the efforts being made to activate the political process in Darfur
aimed at implementing the peace agreement. At the same time,
however, we expressed our astonishment at the fact that the same
court did not pay attention to the crimes of genocide against the
Palestinian people in Gaza."

OLSON