VZCZCXRO3127
PP RUEHDE
DE RUEHAD #2242 1511339
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 311339Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5412
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0158
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 6205
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 002242 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/I, NEA/I, AND NEA/ARP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINS PTER MARR IZ AE
SUBJECT: UAE DEPUTY CHARGE IN BAGHDAD FREED BY CAPTORS 
 
REF: A. ABU DHABI 2042 
     ¶B. ABU DHABI 2175 
     ¶C. ABU DHABI 1339 (NOTAL) 
 
¶1. (U) UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed 
confirmed the release of UAE Deputy Charge d'Affaires Naji 
al-Nuaimi the evening of May 30.  Al-Nuaimi was kidnapped May 
16 by gunmen belonging to the previously unknown Banner of 
Islam group (refs A, B).  One of his bodyguards, a Sudanese, 
was injured in the incident.  Although the UAEG has yet to 
divulge the circumstances of al-Nuaimi's release, Dubai-based 
al-Arabiya television reported this afternoon that the UAE 
did not pay the kidnappers ransom.  The UAE sent a private 
jet to Baghdad early this morning to bring al-Nuaimi home. 
President Khalifa greeted al-Nuaimi in al-Ain in the early 
afternoon local time, according to the local news agency. 
 
¶2. (U) In his May 30 statement, Sheikh Abdullah expressed the 
UAE's "deep gratitude to the Iraqi government for its 
faithful efforts which culminated in the safe release of 
al-Nuaimi.  We are also thankful to the various Iraqi 
political forces for their role in securing al-Nuaimi,s 
release, and to the sisterly Iraqi people for their 
appreciation of the UAE humanitarian role in Iraq."  The UAE 
Red Crescent is one of the most active humanitarian 
organizations in Iraq. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The UAEG particularly appreciated the Iraqi 
government's public condemnation of the kidnapping, Sultan 
al-Romeithy, top aide to Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Hamdan 
bin Zayed, told Polchief.  Al-Romeithy added that the UAE 
would stand by its commitment to rebuild Iraq.  In addition 
to al-Nuaimi's kidnapping, gunmen had shot and killed two 
Iraqi employees of the UAE embassy in Baghdad on April 4 (ref 
C). 
 
¶4. (U) Banner of Islam had called for "the closure of the UAE 
Embassy in Baghdad and the closure of the (Iraqi) television 
station al-Fayhah, which broadcasts from Dubai, two 
conditions for the liberation of al-Nuaimi," television 
station al-Jazeera quoted a statement as saying on May 23. 
Al-Nuaimi's kidnapping prompted widespread public 
condemnation in the UAE as well as extensive public 
expressions of support for al-Nuaimi published in UAE 
newspapers. 
SISON