SAUDI ARABIA NOT IMPOSING SECONDARY BOYCOTT ON

UNCLAS RIYADH 001301 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/IPA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD PREL SA IS SUBJECT: SAUDI ARABIA NOT IMPOSING SECONDARY BOYCOTT ON COMPANIES DOING BUSINESS WQISRQ ¶1. (U) After rQding a recent article in the Jerusalem PostQ sQesting the Saudi governmenQ"iQsifying its enforcement of the Arab LQgue boycott" on companies doing business with Israel, the Embassy contacted both the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and several American Qinesses operating in the Kingdom for comment. Senior interlocutors in the Ministry, the American Businessmen's Group of Riyadh, and American companies operating here in the Kingdom stated that the Kingdom has taken no action towards reinstating a secondary or tertiary boycott of Israel. One company president noted that in 20 pending procurement negotiations there had been no mention of Israel. ¶2. (U) Legally, Saudi Arabia ended its secondary and tertiary boycotts of Israel through Council of Ministers Decision No. 5 of June 13, 1995. Although there have been isolated incidents over the years of American companies being asked to comply with aspects of the Arab League boycott, these requests have often come from copies of outdated contract materials, have been retracted when identified to SAG officials, and do not represent official SAG policy. SMITH