FM ZEBARI ON PROPOSED APRIL 26 GCC3 MEETING IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000938

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV GCC IZ
SUBJECT: FM ZEBARI ON PROPOSED APRIL 26 GCC3 MEETING IN
BAGHDAD

REF: BAGHDAD 919


Classified By: PMIN Robert Ford for reason 1.4 (b).

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Summary
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1. (C) This message contains an action request. Please see
para 6.


2. (C) Foreign Minister Zebari confirmed to PMIN April 4
Iraq's intention to host a one-day GCC 3 Ministerial in
Baghdad on April 26, as proposed in Zebari's April 2 letter
to Secretary Clinton (reftel). Zebari said the date was
chosen carefully in order "to fit into everybody's schedule"
and said he had obtained agreement in principle from all
GCC 3 ministers to attend. He stressed that Prime Minister
Maliki agreed that Iraq would host the meeting with the
understanding that it would not be a forum to oppose Iran or
recognize Israel, but would be a means to demonstrate Arab
support for Iraq. Zebari acknowledged that the GCC 3
meeting would be an opportunity to improve Iraqi-Saudi
relations which he described as very poor. He showed off the
newly finished conference facility in the MFA building which
appears ready to host such an event. End summary.

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PM Maliki's Conditions: Iran and Israel Not on the Agenda
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3. (C) Zebari said he had met for two hours with PM Maliki
a couple of days earlier - much of it devoted to convincing
Maliki to agree to Iraq's hosting a GCC 3 meeting. Maliki,
Zebari said, claimed the GCC is a body that exists to oppose
Iran and did not want Iraq hosting a meeting with that as its
purpose. He said he countered Maliki by saying that while
the GCC does address Iran-related issues, it also addresses
Iraq's stabilization and that demonstrating Arab support for
Iraq would be the purpose of the gathering. Maliki was also
adamant that the meeting not serve as a vehicle for
recognizing Israel. Again, Zebari said this would not be the
purpose of the meeting nor its focus, but also noted to
Maliki that Iraq, on several GCC 3 occasions, had joined
GCC 3 consensus in support of the Arab Peace Initiative.
These arguments apparently addressed Maliki's concerns who
then gave Zebari the green light to officially extend
invitations to GCC 3 Ministers and Secretary Clinton.

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GCC Ministers On Board in Principle
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4. (C) Zebari appeared optimistic that the meeting will
take place on April 26th. He said he had informally raised
this with his GCC, Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts on the
margins of the Doha Arab League Summit and they were all
supportive. He noted in particular a good meeting he had
with Saudi FM Prince Saud who said he would accept "just give
me a date and an agenda." PMIN noted that Saud's presence in
Baghdad was a special opportunity to start improving
bilateral relations; it would be perhaps the most important
issue for Iraq in the meeting. Zebari agreed but cautioned
that Maliki had sought a bilateral with King Abdullah on the
margins of Doha, and, he claimed, Abdullah rebuffed the
offer. The only Iraqi-Saudi meeting, therefore, was the
short one between Zebari and Saud.

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Date, Program Outline and Logistics
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5. (C) Zebari made a point of stressing that April 26 was
carefully chosen "to fit into everybody's schedule." The
GCC, he noted, is scheduled to hold a GCC-EU meeting on April
29 and has other meetings on the 24th and 25th. Zebari
appeared confident that Iraq has the logistical capacity
required to host the meeting -- a one-day gathering in which
Qrequired to host the meeting -- a one-day gathering in which
Ministers would arrive in Baghdad in the morning and depart
that same night. Without going into details of the program,
he said that PM Maliki would be the keynote speaker,
Ministers would issue a "reasonable" joint statement, and at
the meeeting's conclusion there would probably be a press
conference. All this would take place at the MFA's newly
finished conference facility, which Zebari showed PMIN and
which appears ready to host such an event.

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Action Request
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6. (C) Post requests Department's response as soon as

BAGHDAD 00000938 002 OF 002


possible regarding U.S. participation at the proposed April
26 GCC 3 meeting and whether Secretary Clinton will attend.

BUTENIS