AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH OMANI MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR

S E C R E T MUSCAT 000995 SIPDIS DEPT FOR S/ES-O PLS PASS TO THE SECRETARY'S PARTY E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/02 TAGS: PREL KWBG KPAL IS MU SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH OMANI MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS YOUSEF BIN ALAWI CLASSIFIED BY: Richard J. Schmierer, Ambassador; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (S) The Ambassador was called into the MFA today to meet with Omani Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yousef bin Alawi (YbA) to hear Omani criticism of the U.S. position concerning Israeli settlements in occupied territory as announced by Secretary Clinton, following her recently-concluded meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. YbA conveyed the Omani take on the current U.S. position on the settlements issue as undermining Omani trust in the U.S. as a reliable partner in the peace process. He expressed Oman's reading of the "new" U.S. policy as a breach of promises made explicitly to Arab foreign ministers at the GCC plus 3 meeting in New York in September. The Arab states, as YbA characterized it, had applauded the U.S. position on the settlements issue, and had seen it as an inviolable principle of the peace process. Rather than violate this principle, YbA suggested that, if the U.S. could not obtain Israeli agreement to the U.S. position, the U.S. reaction should have been to walk away until the Israelis were willing to agree. The Omanis thus perceive the developments in U.S. efforts on the peace process in recent days as "betraying" the Palestinians (and the Arabs in general), acceding to the Israeli stance on the settlement issue and then "pushing" the Palestinians to accept this position . ¶2. (s) In the course of a more than hour-long discussion, the Ambassador sought to moderate YbA's hardened interpretation of recent developments concerning the settlement issue, but to no avail. In an effort, then, to broaden the discussion to more general aspects of the Arab-Israeli dispute, the Ambassador probed for Omani ideas on establishing the conditions that the two sides would need to resolve the conflict. This track was equally frustrating, with YbA demonstrating considerable "old think" in areas such as the ability of the U.S. to "force" Israel to compromise, Israel's "real intentions" vis-a-vis the Palestinians, and the "peace guarantees" which have been offered to Israel, but rejected. ¶3. (S) The Ambassador highlighted the on-going Forum for the Future meeting in Marrakech, with both Secretary Clinton and Special Envoy Senator Mitchell in attendance. He suggested that the Omani representative at the event use the opportunity to convey Oman's position on the issue (but was advised that the Omani attendee, the Charge' at Oman's Embassy in Morocco, was "too junior" and would be in listening mode only). The Ambassador also spotlighted the important address which Secretary Clinton will deliver in Marrakech, and asked that the Omanis to be open to working with us on the issues which the Secretary will highlight in her speech. ¶4. (S) The session concluded with brief discussions of Iraq (Oman would be willing to speak out in support of Iraq "at the right time"),Iran (the current U.S. approach - encouraging the Iranians to engage, while avoiding public criticism and threats -- is appreciated),and Uzbekistan (to be reported septel). ¶5. (S) Comment: YbA's blunt talk was clearly intended to send a strong message, one which may be being delivered in many Arab capitols today. Schmierer