VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRH #1542/01 0711523
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 121523Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY RIYADH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4900
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH 6879
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/COMUSCENTAF SHAW AFB SC
RHRMAKS/COMUSNAVCENT
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

S E C R E T RIYADH 001542 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOE FOR OFFICE OF POLICY AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, JHART 
AND GPERSON, STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, PM/RSAT, S/CT, DS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2016 
TAGS: PTER MASS MARR ASEC PREL EPET ETRD SA
SUBJECT: POST-ABQAIQ MINISTER OF INTERIOR FORMALLY REQUESTS 
HELICOPTER SUPPORT AND SECURITY CONSULTATION FOR OIL 
INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION 
 
REF: (A) RIYADH 1255 (B) RIYADH 1091 (C) AMBASSADOR 
     OBERWETTER'S 2/25 LETTER TO THE SECRETARY 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR JAMES C. OBERWETTER 
           FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
¶1. (U) This is an action request. 
 
¶2.  (S) Summary and Action Request: Post requests 
Department's prompt review and guidance in responding to the 
Saudi government's formal request for helicopter support and 
security consultations, for the security of oil facilities in 
the Kingdom.  Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and Assistant 
Minister of Interior Mohammad bin Nayif March 11 formally 
requested to lease 20 Blackhawk and 10 Chinook helicopters, 
and the services of U.S. training personnel, to train Saudi 
pilots until new helicopters could be made available.  The 
Saudi leaders indicated that the SAG had placed a tender and 
had been in touch with various helicopter-producing firms, 
and also suggested that U.S. firms would have an advantage in 
the procurement bidding process if the U.S. could now make 
leased helicopters available.  The Foreign Minister and 
Prince Mohammad also asked for consultations for Aramco on 
oil facilities protection, commenting that the SAG "needed to 
train our people to protect oil facilities."  End Summary and 
Action Request. 
 
----------- 
Helicopters 
----------- 
 
¶3.  (S) Ambassador Oberwetter met March 11 with Foreign 
Minister Saud al-Faisal at the latter's request.  Assistant 
Minister of Interior Mohammad bin Nayif and Deputy Political 
Counselor (notetaker) also attended the meeting.  The Foreign 
Minister began by stating that the subject of the meeting 
would be the SAG's request for helicopters and that Prince 
Mohammad would be briefing on the request.  The Ambassador 
noted that in response to the SAG's request a week ago, the 
Embassy's Defense Attache and Political-Military officers had 
reviewed all available options for providing the requested 
helicopters as quickly as possible.  They had determined that 
refurbishing out-of-commission helicopters would take only 
six months, while the process for ordering and receiving 
delivery of new helicopters would take 18 months.  The 
Ambassador explained that the latter process was longer 
because all helicopters currently in the production pipeline 
are earmarked for end use already. 
 
¶4.  (S)  Prince Mohammad began his presentation by noting 
that he was briefing the Foreign Minister and Ambassador 
together because "we are all on one team."  He then indicated 
that the Ministry of Interior (MOI) was seeking to lease 20 
Blackhawks (medium-weight) and 10 Chinook (heavy-weight) with 
which to train pilots until new helicopters arrive.  Prince 
Mohammed stressed that the MOI was seeking operational U.S. 
helicopters and training personnel to come to Saudi Arabia to 
train while the MOI waited for the new helicopters.  He 
indicated that the SAG had already placed a tender and had 
been in touch with various helicopter manufacturers, 
including Boeing, which he said had an operator in Oregon 
with KV-47s and CH-47s available.  Prince Mohammad told the 
Ambassador that if the U.S. could provide the requested 
leased helicopters and trainers, American defense firms would 
have the upper hand in the procurement bidding process, since 
the Saudi pilots would be familiar with the U.S. products. 
 
¶5.  (S)  The Foreign Minister asked the Ambassador if the MOI 
plan was feasible.  The Ambassador replied that, while there 
may be scattered helicopters here and there, he could not say 
whether they were available in the numbers requested by the 
SAG.  In fact, he said, given current U.S. military 
commitments, he could not even say whether any Blackhawks or 
Chinooks could be spared.  The Ambassador added that in 
addition to crews and qualified trainers, such a plan would 
require qualified maintenance personnel and dedicated storage 
facilities.  The Foreign Minister pointed out that the 
requested helicopters were intended to guard oil facilities 
 
 
which, if they were lost to attacks, would affect both the 
U.S. and Saudi Arabia.  He added that the SAG was asking if 
helicopters already planned for the military could be 
redirected.  Prince Mohammad also added that he knew the U.S. 
military had plenty of Blackhawks and that, even though they 
were requesting 30 helicopters overall, the MOI would be 
happy to start with less than that.  He again noted that the 
U.S. would have the upper hand in the procurement bidding 
process if helicopters are provided immediately for training. 
 The Ambassador told the Saudi leaders that the USG would 
review the request, adding that he was aware that the attack 
on Abqaiq had been much closer to succeeding than generally 
acknowledged. 
 
---------------------- 
Security Consultations 
---------------------- 
 
¶6.  (S)  Continuing in the same vein, Prince Mohammad asked 
if the U.S. could provide a "real professional person" to 
help the MOI advise Aramco on oil facilities protection.  The 
Ambassador noted that an American team visited the Kingdom 
roughly two years ago and made suggestions on security 
improvements to oil facilities, specifically Abqaiq.  Some of 
those suggestions had been followed, while others were not. 
The Ambassador commented that it appeared that except for a 
few bombings in Riyadh, all other terrorist attacks in the 
Kingdom -- including the attack on Consulate General Jeddah 
in 2004 -- involved the attackers breaching the gate of a 
facility.  He said the Abqaiq attack followed the same 
pattern.  The Ambassador concluded by noted that the USG 
could send an ATA team to conduct a vital installation 
security course.  Prince Mohammad responded by stating that 
the SAG "needed to train our people to protect oil 
facilities."  He said the SAG needed both human and 
mechanical protection systems to overcome the risks involved 
with terrorist attacks. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7.  (S) Although they apparently accepted Post's cautions 
about the lead time involved in new helicopter procurement, 
SAG leaders clearly believe that the U.S. can provide 
aircraft for a short-term fix until new aircraft become 
available.  The SAG also appears to have rejected Post's 
recommendation of a fast track maintenance program to bring 
more of its helicopters on line. The rejection is probably 
due to an MOI preference for its own helicopter fleet, a lack 
of well-trained pilots in any of the military and security 
services, and a reluctance by Ministry of Defense and 
Aviation services to compromise what operational capability 
they have by lending their resources to the MOI.  RSAF 
Commander General al-Faisal recently told with visiting 
CENTAF Commander General North that he needed more helicopter 
pilot training, commenting that because the Saudi Arabia 
National Guard (SANG) and the MOI were developing helicopter 
assets, "everyone is asking me for pilots." 
 
¶8.  (S) Comment continued: The Ambassador will offer the same 
security training courses to Saudi Aramco via Petroleum 
Minister al Naimi at a meeting the Ambassador has requested. 
Prince Mohammad's comments concerning the protective forces 
in place were far less than complimentary, confirming 
previous post reporting about the lackadaisical performance 
of Saudi guard forces during the Abqaiq attack.  In 
discounting the reliability and performance of Saudi Arabia's 
armed guards, he seems to be searching for a silver bullet to 
take their place.  End Comment. 
OBERWETTER