DEMARCHE IN ADVANCE OF DOHA SUMMIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 000490 E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/28/2019 TAGS: KPAL KPKO KWBG MOPS PGOV PHUM PREL AL SU XF SA SUBJECT: DEMARCHE IN ADVANCE OF DOHA SUMMIT REF: STATE 28323 Classified By: DCM David Rundell, 1.4(b),(d) ¶1. (SBU) DCM presented reftel demarche on the Doha Arab League summit in a March 24 meeting with Saudi Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Bilateral Relations Ambassador Dr. Khalid Jindan, and again in a March 25 meeting with MFA Director for UN Affairs Adnan al-Baghdadi. ¶2. (C) DCM made the point that Palestinian reconciliation should not occur at the expense of Quartet principles, or previous PLO agreements, and that any new Palestinian governmant must be committed to a two-state solution. ¶3. (C) He urged that the summit take no action that would signal reduced support for the Arab Peace Initiative, since elements of it were consistent with the Quartet Principles and it could help advance the peace process. ¶4. (C) On Sudan, DCM urged that Arab League members encourage Sudanese President Bashir to find a way to reverse his decision to expel NGOs and consider carefully the impact League support for Bashir would have on the political and humanitarian situation in Darfur. ¶5. (C) In response, Jindan said Doha discussion of the Middle East peace process was likely to focus on developing a united Arab strategy and on the structure of the PLO. He described the Arab peace initiative as an expression of a long-standing strategic choice on the part of the Arabs. ¶6. (C) Jindan noted that he hoped for a successful summit, which he defined as the participants achieving a consensus statement, and arriving at a "joint vision" on meeting the challenge from Iran. He added that the lack of Arab unity encourages Iran, which in turn does not see the problems caused by its behavior towards Arab states. As an example of this, Jindan cited the Iranian dispute with the UAE over control of Abu Musa and the Tunb islands in the Gulf, which Iran characterizes as a "misunderstanding." ¶7. (C) Al-Baghdadi said the U.S. views expressed in the demarche were "very clear." He agreed that weakening support for the Arab Peace Initiative would not be a good idea at this point. ¶8. (SBU) Al-Baghdadi noted the Arab League would hold a joint summit with Latin American leaders following the AL summit. He said King Abdullah would attend the AL Summit and might attend the joint summit. FRAKER