VZCZCXRO1632
PP RUEHDE
DE RUEHDE #2853/01 1401322
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 201322Z MAY 06
FM AMCONSUL DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0581
INFO RUEHZM/GCC C COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 3538

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBAI 002853 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  5/20/2016 
TAGS: PTER KTFN PARM MCAP IR AE
SUBJECT: MBR CHARITY ESTABLISHMENT PROMISES TO END COOPERATION WITH 
HUMAN APPEAL INTERNATIONAL 
 
REF: ABU DHABI 2081 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Jason L. Davis, Consul General, Dubai, UAE. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Ibrahim Bu Melha, SecGen of the MBR Humanitarian 
and Charity Establishment (MBRE), told CG May 13 that MBRE was 
partnering on projects in Palestine with Human Appeal 
Internation (HAI), an Ajman-based organization that he had just 
heard was problematic for the USG.  When CG informed him that 
the USG had serious concerns about HAI, and that we strongly 
recommended that MBRE disengage from it, Bu Melha immediately 
agreed to do so.  No new projects would be signed; clinics and 
schools currently in the final phases of construction would be 
completed within four to six months.  Bu Melha said the SecGen 
of HAI believed his organization was "100 percent clean" and was 
eager to open his books to the US, and to learn first hand of 
any problems so they could be remedied.  Bu Melha also provided 
assurance that millions of dollars of recently announced medical 
assistance to Palestinians would be in-kind, and that no funds 
would be sent.  End Summary. 
 
Seeking Guidance on HAI 
----------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) On May 13 Consul General paid a farewell call on Ibrahim 
Bu Melha, SecGen of Mohammed bin Rashid Humanitarian and Charity 
Foundation (MBRE), a respected local charity that prides itself 
on its squeaky clean record. Bu Melha said he had recently 
become aware (likely from the Dubai Security Services -- see 
reftel) that the USG had concerns with Human Appeal 
International (HAI), and was concerned because MBRE was 
currently partnered with HAI (which he consistently referred to 
in Arabic as Hayat al-A'amal al-Khairiya, roughly "Benevolent 
Works Organization") on the construction of schools, clinics and 
hospitals in Palestine (Jebalya, Jenin, Ramallah and Nablus). 
MBRE was also on the verge of signing several new agreements for 
joint projects. 
 
¶3. (C) Bu Melha said that prior to partnering with HAI (with 
which MBRE had previously worked on humanitarian projects in 
Iraq) he had carefully studied the U.N. and U.S. lists of 
"banned" charities, and was certain that HAI did not appear on 
the lists.  Furthermore, HAI was a "very respected" 
organization, headquartered in the nearby emirate of Ajman, that 
was working with equally respectable partners in many countries, 
including Sudan, where it had a "300 person office" in 
partnership with the United Nations.  Bu Melha said he was 
seeking CG's guidance on the advisability of continuing to work 
with HAI, and particularly on the advisability of expanding 
cooperation in Palestine, where the needs were "urgent." MBRE 
could not work there without a partner like HAI, "which has 
offices and accountable employees here in the UAE, and is also 
on the ground in Palestine."  CG told Bu Melha it was his 
understanding that HAI was a problematic group.  He urged that 
MBRE not proceed with signing any new agreements with HAI until 
further guidance could be obtained from Washington. 
 
MBRE To Disengage 
----------------- 
 
¶4. (C) On May 17, after receiving talking points from the 
Department, CG met with Bu Melha a second time to inform him 
that the USG indeed had serious concerns about HAI.  While we 
were unfortunately not in a position to make those concerns 
public at this point, we strongly recommended that MBRE 
disengage from projects and cooperation with HAI.  CG also 
shared with Bu Melha some of the many steps the USG was taking 
to provide increased humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian 
people. Bu Melha immediately agreed to disengage with HAI.  No 
new agreements would be signed, and no new projects started. 
Schools and clinics already being built, many in an advanced 
state of construction, would be completed, but no new ones would 
be started. He estimated that it would take "four to six months" 
until the remaining projects were completed, at which point the 
disengagement would be complete. 
 
HAI Eager to Cooperate with USG 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Bu Melha said that he knew HAI SecGen Salem Ahmed Al 
Nuaimi personally, and was virtually certain that both he and 
his organization had been "100 percent clean" from the 
beginning.  HAI had never knowingly cooperated with any 
extremist group, including Hamas; "in fact, Hamas is angry at 
them for refusing to cooperate on projects in Palestine," Bu 
Melha asserted.  Nuaimi had also become aware of USG concerns 
about his group, according to Bu Melha, and was eager to "open 
all his books" to the USG so that any problem areas could be 
remedied. Nuaimi's message to the U.S., according to Bu Melha, 
was "please come to me, I want to cooperate fully with you -- I 
 
DUBAI 00002853  002 OF 002 
 
 
will hold no information back." 
 
Medical Assistance to Gaza to Be In-Kind 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) On a separate issue, Bu Melha earlier emphasized that the 
UAED 10 million (USD 2.7 million) in assistance that MBRE would 
be providing to the Palestinian people would be in-kind 
assistance, mainly medicines and medical supplies.  None of the 
funds would be sent to the Palestinian territories; instead, the 
funds would be transferred to third-country accounts of 
companies (mainly Egyptian and Jordanian) that had the capacity 
to deliver medical supplies inside Palestine. The possibility of 
purchasing medicines in Egypt and trucking them to Gaza had been 
broached with the Egyptian authorities, but no response had yet 
been received.  In either case MBRE would insist on 
accountability, in the form of receipts from both the company 
and the receiving clinic or hospital that the supplies were 
actually delivered. 
DAVIS