ARAB LEAGUE SUMMIT: GOOD TURNOUT AS QATAR TILTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DOHA 000225

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/30/2019
TAGS: PREL ECON KPAL KWBG SU QA
SUBJECT: ARAB LEAGUE SUMMIT: GOOD TURNOUT AS QATAR TILTS
BACK TOWARDS THE ARAB MIDDLE

REF: DOHA 222

Classified By: Ambassador Joseph E. LeBaron, for reasons 1.4 (b, d).

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(C) KEY POINTS
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-- 17 Arab League heads of state and government attended the
Doha Summit, up from 11 last year. Qatar's decision not to
invite Iranian President Ahmadinejad helped.

-- Highlights from the final statement appear in the main
text below. The statement supported Sudanese President
Bashir in a clear rebuff to the International Criminal
Court's warrant for his arrest issued earlier this month.

-- The statement was largely silent on Iran, as we were told
it would be. There was, however, the now traditional
language about the need to work out a solution to three UAE
islands that Iran claims.

-- The summit ended early, as attendees apparently could not
agree on a common way forward for Israeli-Palestinian peace
efforts. (More details as we get them.)

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(C) AMBASSADOR'S COMMENTS
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Six short analytic notes:

-- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's prominent attendance
at an international conference also attended by Sudanese
President Bashir, the first sitting president to be under ICC
indictment for war crimes, was noteworthy. It illustrates
the complicated, compartmentalized reaction here to the ICC
action.

-- For the Arab League member states, the reflexive support
for a fellow Arab head of state trumped any humanitarian and
moral concern about the large-scale killing and suffering in
Darfur and Bashir's guilt in it.

-- More welcome: Arab leaders refrained from criticizing the
United States. In fact, just the opposite occurred. In
their speeches at the opening session, Qatar's Amir and
others worked in some favorable references to the new U.S.
Administration, detecting the beginning of new narrative by
the U.S. government towards the region.

-- Qatar appears to be tilting back toward the Arab middle.
The Summit was far different from the debacle here January
16th. Then, Qatar, falling just short of getting an Arab
League quorum to gather, hosted a radical camp meeting that
included not only the Arab League rejectionists, but
Ahmadinejad and several Palestinian terrorist organizations.
Now, Qatar excluded the Iranian president, and HAMAS's Khalid
Mish'al. It even did its bit for Arab reconciliation,
bringing Libyan leader Qaddafi and the Saudi King together.
Qatar also facilitated a meeting between Jordan's King
Abdullah II with Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad.

-- In the increasingly zero-sum contest between Egypt and
Qatar for diplomatic influence in the region, the Summit was
a win for Qatar and a loss for Egypt, as economic power and
political influence in the Arab world (gradually) shift east
from the Levant toward Iraq and the Gulf. (More on that in a
later cable.)

-- That said, the Summit will damage, perhaps fatally, the
Qatar-led Darfur Initiative, handing Egypt a "win" there, if
that is the right word. Shamefully, the Summit strengthened
Bashir and Darfur's rebel groups now have all the more reason
to distrust the Arab League, including member state Qatar.

End Key Points and Ambassador's Comments.


1. (U) Following are highlights of the "Doha Declaration"
issued at the close of the March 30-31 Arab League Summit:

SUDAN: Arab leaders expressed their support of Sudan in face
of "all threats targeting its security, stability, and
territorial integrity" and rejected all actions that threaten
the peace efforts exerted by the state of Qatar within the
framework of the Arab-African Ministerial Committee and in
coordination with the mediator of the joint UN and African
Union. The Arab League further confirmed its support of
Sudan in bringing peace to Darfur.

ISRAEL/PALESTINE: The Arab leaders expressed their

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commitment to strengthening Arab solidarity and settling any
differences through constructive dialogue. "We salute the
Palestinian resistance and deny the Israeli assault on Gaza.
We call for a (enduring) cease-fire, halt to the blockade,
and the opening of all border crossings. Israel must be held
accountable for its war crimes and violations of
international law. We support all Arab efforts to enhance
Palestinian unity and we ask Palestinian factions to respond
to those efforts in order to reach geo-political unification
of Palestinian territories."

"We strongly object to unilateral Israeli policies, including
colonization activities and we call for the destruction of
the wall of separation."

"We call on Israel to set a timeframe to commit to the peace
process and take clear measures to reach that peace based on
the Arab peace initiative and international references."

SYRIA/LEBANON: Arab leaders pointed out that in addition to
resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Golan Heights
and Shebaa Farms should be restored to Syria and Lebanon,
respectively.

IRAQ: The communique reiterated Arab League respect for the
unity, sovereignty, and independence of Iraq while supporting
a political course based on the participation of different
Iraqi groups.

IRAN: Arab leaders called upon Iran to respond to the UAE
initiative to find a solution for the three UAE islands,
either through direct talks or the International Court of
Justice.

TERRORISM: The Arab League rejected any "form, source or
reason" for terrorism and agreed to eradicate it. (Note:
The final statement stayed clear of defining terrorism as it
relates to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.)

NUCLEAR ISSUES: Leaders stressed the importance of
eradication of all weapons of mass destruction in the Middle
East. Israel should adhere to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty, and the IAEA must give guarantees about the nuclear
activities and facilities of Israel. Arab countries, they
continued, have a legitimate right to own nuclear technology
use for peaceful purposes in order to serve their development
programs and support the diversification of their economies
and energy resources.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Arab leaders confirmed their continued
desire to work for the establishment of a free-trade zone
among Arab states in order to develop Arab economic
partnerships, increase Arab investments, and prevent negative
impacts of the global financial crisis.

SUPPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT: The final communique called on the
international community to support developing countries in
closing the gap between rich and poor countries. The
statement also stressed the importance of enhancing the
national identity of Arab children, providing job
opportunities for Arab youth, and emphasized the importance
of preserving the Arabic language that reflects the culture,
identity and heritage of Arabs.

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AN EARLY CLOSE AS ISRAEL/PALESTINE DIVIDE THE ARABS
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2. (C) The Arab League Summit in Doha closed the evening of
March 30 instead of the following morning. The decision was
made with relative haste, as ambassadors were summoned to the
conference site at the Sheraton Hotel with about 30 minutes
of notice. A local press source told us the members of the
Arab League were at an impasse on moving forward about
Israel. It was clear to the Qatari hosts that further
discussions into the morning would not be productive. Hence,
the Amir of Qatar moved up the closing ceremony.


3. (C) MFA Assistant Minister for Follow-up Affairs Mohamed
Al-Rumaihi told DCM March 30 that Arab leaders would remain
for the South American-Arab League Summit starting the
afternoon of March 31. He said the closing ceremony took
place earlier than planned because the delegates "had
finished their business."

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UNITY ON SUDAN
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4. (C) A local press source told us that Arab League
delegations quickly arrived in their discussions at a

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consensus position on the International Criminal Court (ICC)
indictment against Sudanese President Bashir. The Arab
League supported Bashir in his efforts to suspend the pending
indictment. In his speech before the Summit, Bashir accused
Western countries of unfairly targeting him. He noted that
the United States, which is not a member of the ICC and has
stated its refusal to hand over Americans to the ICC,
nonetheless supports the indictment of an African leader.


5. (C) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the
situation in Sudan as volatile, expressing his concern at the
Sudanese Government's decision to expel key international
non-governmental organizations. The UNSYG also welcomed the
progress many Arab states have made towards Millennium
Development Goals and stressed, with respect to Palestine,
the need for a durable cease-fire, open crossings and
Palestinian reconciliation under President Abbas.

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PROGRESS ON RECONCILIATION
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6. (C) Other than a misunderstanding between the Amir of
Qatar and Libyan leader Qaddafi at the opening session of the
Summit, public displays of discord were rare. In the
Libyan-Qatari contretemps, Qaddafi was speaking with the
Saudi King in a voice loud enough that many participants
could hear him. Fearing he was launching into a lengthy
speech, the Amir asked him to be quiet. Ironically,
observers reported that Qaddafi was making positive remarks
about Arab reconciliation at the time. Qaddafi stormed out
and was reported to have departed Doha. (It turns out he
went to the Islamic Art Museum and returned to the Sheraton
later in the day.)


7. (C) The Amir of Qatar, after making things right with
Qaddafi, succeeded in bringing him together with King
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in a meeting aimed at reconciling
the Libyan and Saudi leaders. Separately, Jordan's King
Abdullah II met with Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad in
what a Syrian reporter described as an effort aimed at
"intensifying efforts to boost positive...relations."

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GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS A CONCERN
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8. (C) While the final statement of the Arab League leaders
following the Summit may not highlight it, the global
financial crisis was a general theme that leaders addressed
in their speeches in Doha. Leaders alluded to the upcoming
G-20 meeting in London as an occasion when Arab states,
particularly from the Gulf, will be inadequately represented
based on their wealth and importance as global investors.
LeBaron