SAUDI FOCUS ON PEACE TALKS DURING ABBAS VISIT

S E C R E T RIYADH 000038

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2020
TAGS: PREL KPAL SA EG SY
SUBJECT: SAUDI FOCUS ON PEACE TALKS DURING ABBAS VISIT
SUGGESTS NEW, MORE ACTIVE APPROACH

REF: A. RIYADH 1683

B. 09 RIYADH 841 (NODIS)

C. 09 RIYADH 1905

D. 12/30/09 RUBINSTEIN/SMITH EMAIL

E. RIYADH 37

Classified By: ACTING DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION LISA CARLE,
REASONS 1.4 (B) & (D)


1. (C) FOCUS ON PROSPECTS FOR PEACE: Palestine Embassy
Deputy Chief of Mission Dr. Mahir Karaki told Pol/Mil
Counselor that President Mahmoud Abbas' December 30 meetings
with King Abdullah and Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal
focused on restarting Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. Dr.
Mahir observed that throughout the meetings, FM Saud evinced
frustration at the lack of progress. For his part, Abbas was
said to have assured the Saudis of his wish for renewed peace
talks, but not in "negotiations only for the sake of
negotiations."


2. (C) ABBAS: "HAMAS PLAYING GAMES": In discussions on
Fatah-Hamas reconciliation negotiations, Dr. Mahir said Abbas
told the Saudis that Hamas was only "playing games," and
taking instructions from Tehran and Damascus. Abbas
reportedly also told the King he "was not bluffing" about his
decision not to run for the presidency again, a message that
Dr. Mahir said Abbas had also reaffirmed to Syrian President
Asad recently. Dr. Mahir disclosed that Abbas planned to
visit Damascus again in the very near future.


3. (C) LAST MINUTE: Dr. Mahir mentioned that the visit
occurred with little advance notice ) his Embassy was not
aware of President Abbas' plans to visit Saudi Arabia until
the day of the visit.


COMMENT: ABBAS BACK IN FAVOR?
--------------

4. (C) Abbas, official reception on December 30 contrasted
sharply with his previous visit to Riyadh last June (ref c)
when King Abdullah kept him waiting for six hours and then
summarily dismissed him after less than 20 minutes in a show
of anger over public Palestinian complaints about Saudi
miserliness. This time, FM Saud met Abbas at the airport,
and escorted him to meetings with King Abdullah, Riyadh
Governor Prince Salman, and lunch with newspaper editors, all
prominently trumpeted by local media.


5. (S/NF) The Saudis' new-found embrace of the Palestinian
President suggests a new, more activist Saudi strategy vis a
vis the Palestinians, perhaps in response to Egyptian
prodding. In a readout of Mubarak's latest visit to Riyadh,
the Egyptian DCM reported that the need to support the PA was
high on the agenda. Responding to Saudi complaints about
Abbas' role in Palestinian disunity, the Egyptians reportedly
argued that the Arab side needed to look past Abbas at PA
institutions. Viable Palestinian statehood could only be
built on the basis of institutions which were part of the PA
but absent from Hamas-controlled Gaza. To achieve a
Palestinian state, the Arab side therefore needed to
encourage reconciliation and maintain the viability of PA
institutions. This in turn meant supporting Abbas, for whom
there was no alternative. Interestingly, Dr. Mahir's
characterization of Abbas' meetings suggested that the Saudis
were actually pushing Abbas to be more forthcoming. Separate
readouts from PA officials in Jerusalem (ref d) seemed to
corroborate renewed Saudi engagement in support of
reconciliation and peace negotiations. The follow-on visit of
Khalid Mish'al (ref e) and FM Saud's Jan 5 return trip to
Damascus further suggests the re-emergence of
Riyadh-Cairo-Damascus coordination. End comment.
SMITH