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). -------------- Summary -------------- ¶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. -------------- -------------- PM Maliki's Conditions: Iran and Israel Not on the Agenda -------------- -------------- ¶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. -------------- GCC Ministers On Board in Principle -------------- ¶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. -------------- Date, Program Outline and Logistics -------------- ¶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. -------------- Action Request -------------- ¶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