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RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 4270
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4541
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 6731
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 1285
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 009168 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL SENV XF MU IS JO KS KWBG JA NL
SUBJECT: MEPP: MIDDLE EAST MULTILATERAL WORKING GROUP ON 
WATER RESOURCES - EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING OF THE MIDDLE 
EAST DESALINATION RESEARCH CENTER, DECEMBER 12, 2006 
 
¶1.  (U) This cable is Sensitive But Unclassified.  Please 
handle accordingly. 
 
------------------------ 
Summary and Introduction 
------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (U) The Executive Council (ExCouns) of the Middle East 
Desalination Research Center (MEDRC) held its nineteenth 
meeting in Muscat, December 12, 2006.  MEDRC, which was 
established by the Middle East peace process Multilateral 
Working Group on Water Resources, has its headquarters in 
Muscat, Oman, and has been operating continuously since early 
¶1997.  Representatives of the U.S., Israeli, Omani, 
Jordanian, Japanese, Korean, and Dutch governments, along 
with a representative of Palestinian Authority President 
Mahmoud Abbas, constitute MERC's Executive Council.  MEDRC's 
activities are open to experts and officials from throughout 
the Middle East and other parts of the world. 
 
¶3.  (U) In their opening remarks, both MEDRC Director 
Quteishat and ExCouns Chairman Sayyid Badr noted that the 
meeting marked the tenth anniversary of MEDRC and that MEDRC 
had established itself as a well known and respected 
desalination research institution.  After reviewing the 
status of ongoing activities, the main topic of discussion 
was the issue of MEDRC's financial situation, which remains 
tenuous.  Quteishat,s cash flow projections demonstrated 
that MEDRC resources would run out in 2007 if no additional 
revenues are forthcoming.  MEDRC staff reported that serious 
discussion with several potential new member governments 
continue, with expectations that at least one new member will 
join soon.  ExCouns members agreed to try to secure 
additional funds to cover the deficit that will ensue in 2007 
if case no new members join.  End Summary and Intro. 
 
------------ 
Participants 
------------ 
 
¶4.  (U) The following officials participated in the December 
12 ExCouns meeting:  for Oman, Amb. Sayyid Badr, ExCouns 
Chairman and Omani MFA Under Secretary, and Mr. Khalid 
Al-Muslahi, Omani MFA; for the U.S., Dr. Charles Lawson, 
ExCouns Vice Chairman and NEA Senior Advisor for Science and 
Technology and Mr. Kevin Price U.S. Technical Representative 
and Bureau of Reclamation; for Israel, Mr. Yaacov Keidar, 
Multilateral Coordinator, Israeli MFA, Mr. Yaacov 
Hadas-Handelsman, Deputy Director General, Israeli MFA; for 
Japan, Mr. Hitoshi Ishizuka, Japanese Embassy Muscat, and 
Prof. Totaro Goto, Japanese Technical Representative; for 
Korea, Mr. Euy Sang Yoo, Korean Embassy Muscat; for the 
Palestinians, Mr. Marwan Abdulhamid, Advisor to President 
Mahmoud Abbas; for Jordan, Mr. Fayez Bataineh, Assistant 
Secretary General, Jordan Valley Authority; and for The 
 
SIPDIS 
Netherlands, Prof. Jan Schippers, Dutch Technical 
Representative.  MEDRC Director Koussai Quteishat and 
Associate Director Shannon McCarthy also participated in the 
meeting. 
 
------------------------- 
10 Year Anniversary Noted 
------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) At the opening of the meeting, ExCouns Chairman 
Sayyid Badr and MEDRC Director Quteishat both noted that as 
of this meeting, MEDRC is ten years old.  (Note: Founding 
members Oman, the U.S., Israel, Japan, and Korea concluded 
the international agreement establishing MEDRC on December 
22, 1996.  End note.)  MEDRC arose out of the Middle East 
Multilateral peace process Working Group on Water Resources. 
Sayyid Badr and Quteishat observed that MEDRC has operated 
continuously over the last ten years and commented that, as 
 
STATE 00009168  002 OF 003 
 
SUBJECT: MEPP: MIDDLE EAST MULTILATERAL WORKING GROUP ON 
WATER RESOURCES - EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING OF THE MIDDLE 
EAST DESALINATION RESEARCH CENTER, DECEMBER 12, 20 
far as they know, MEDRC remains the only regional institution 
established under the peace process in operation today. 
 
---------------------------- 
Status of Ongoing Activities 
---------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) Since the June 2006 ExCouns meeting, MEDRC has 
awarded five research projects (these were under review at 
the time of the June meeting), with several other proposals 
still under consideration.  The total number of MEDRC 
projects awarded since MEDRC began operations now stands at 
59, 31 of which have been completed.  As a measure of the 
high quality and importance of the research MEDRC funds, 
Quteishat noted that for the eight month period March-October 
2006, final reports of projects have been downloaded from the 
website, and software packages developed under MEDRC projects 
have been downloaded 917 times.  MEDRC's scholarship program 
continues to expand, with each of the five new projects 
including a Masters or Ph.D. student on the project.  To 
date, MEDRC has supported ten Masters and fifteen Ph.D. 
students.  Demand for MEDRC sponsored training courses also 
continues to increase.  In 2006, MEDRC sponsored eight 
training courses in six countries (one in Oman, Bahrain, 
Morocco, and Tunisia; and two each in Algeria and Egypt). 
Since the training program began in September 2003, MEDRC has 
organized 24 training courses, with 876 experts from the 
region having participated.  Quteishat noted that MEDRC is 
organizing its first ever training course in Libya, 
co-sponsored by the Libyan Petroleum Institute.  The will 
take place in February 2007.  This meeting will be the first 
one under MEDRC sponsorship to be held in Libya. 
 
----------- 
Fundraising 
----------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Associate Director McCarthy reported that MEDRC 
still is waiting for Qatar to conclude the agreement to join 
MEDRC.  (Note: Qatari officials confirmed their intention to 
join MEDRC about a year ago, but the government has been slow 
to finalize its internal arrangements.  End note.)  McCarthy 
noted that MEDRC also is in various stages of discussion with 
Italy, the UAE, Spain, the UK, and Germany.  Italy had agreed 
to join last year, but with the change of government, that 
decision has been put aside for now.  Quteishat said that 
MEDRC also is interested in Libyan membership, noting that 
MEDRC engagement with Libya is increasing.  In addition to 
the training course MEDRC will sponsor in February 2007 
(para. five above), Quteishat noted that two of the MEDRC 
scholarship students are Libyan.  Lawson urged MEDRC to 
continue engaging with Libya through training courses and the 
like but cautioned that the GOL is likely to take its time 
before making any decision to join. 
 
¶8.  (U) Quteishat reported that he and the Dutch ExCouns 
member continue to talk with the European Commission about 
securing funds for projects.  (Note.  The EC was a founding 
supporter of MEDRC.  In 2004, it unexpectedly pulled out of 
MEDRC and left an unfulfilled commitment of 2 million Euros. 
End note.)  MEDRC hopes to submit a project proposal to the 
Commission in the near future. 
 
---------------- 
Financial Update 
---------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) In reviewing MEDRC's financial situation, Quteishat 
emphasized that MEDRC's funding situation is remains 
critical.  Quteishat reported that cash flow forecast for 
2007 show that if no additional funds are received, MEDRC 
would end 2007 with a deficit of $1.72 million.  While there 
is a good chance that Qatar with join MEDRC in 2007, ExCouns 
members Oman, the U.S., Japan, Israel, Korea, and The 
Netherlands agreed to try to secure additional funds from 
their own sources to cover the deficit, in case there are no 
new members in 2007. 
 
-------- 
 
STATE 00009168  003 OF 003 
 
SUBJECT: MEPP: MIDDLE EAST MULTILATERAL WORKING GROUP ON 
WATER RESOURCES - EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING OF THE MIDDLE 
EAST DESALINATION RESEARCH CENTER, DECEMBER 12, 20 
Comments 
-------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) While the prospects appear good that Qatar will 
conclude arrangements to join MEDRC in 2007, concluding those 
arrangements as soon as possible is more critical than ever 
(those arrangements include a commitment by Qatar to provide 
$3 million to MEDRC).  Having current ExCouns member 
governments contribute additional funds in 2007 even if Qatar 
does join, will help ease the financial crunch in the short 
term.  For the longer term, a steady stream of new 
contributions - either from existing members or from new 
members joining - will be needed to assure MEDRC's sustained 
existence. 
 
¶11. Tripoli minimize considered. 
RICE