OMAN - REPLY TO GOLDSTONE REPORT DEMARCHE

C O N F I D E N T I A L MUSCAT 001025 SENSITIVE SIPDIS FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/RA AND IO/UNP E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/18 TAGS: PREL PHUM KPAL IS MU SUBJECT: OMAN - REPLY TO GOLDSTONE REPORT DEMARCHE REF: STATE 112828 CLASSIFIED BY: Richard J Schmierer, Ambassador, State, Exec; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) While Pol Econ Chief was presenting other demarches at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Counselor Ahmad bin Sa'id bin Umar al-Kathiri, Deputy Director of the American Affairs Department, took the opportunity to comment for the first time on the Embassy's previously delivered demarche on the Goldstone Report. Al-Kathiri said that he fully understands the United States' serious concerns and doesn't support a precipitous vote, but he said that Oman believes that there is enough material available to support a truly independent review of the events of the fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. ¶2. (C) Al-Kathiri said that this would be "the good way out," i.e. to find out what really happened. He continued that Oman understands that this is a political issue but stresses that it is also a humanitarian issue, and, for this reason, it must never happen again. Repeating for emphasis, he said that people have suffered and that such fighting must never happen again, and that to prevent this Oman would support the placing of United Nations peacekeepers between the two sides. Schmierer