VZCZCXRO2106
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHKUK
DE RUEHDO #1127/01 3371346
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 031346Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7315
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 001127 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/03/2017 
TAGS: PREL EFIN GCC QA
SUBJECT: GCC SUMMIT OPENS IN DOHA WITH LOW PUBLIC 
EXPECTATIONS...AND ATTENTION FOCUSED ON THE IRANIAN 
PRESIDENT 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael A. Ratney, 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (SBU) The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit opened 
December 3 in Doha with all six heads of state, plus Iranian 
President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad in attendance.  Though not on 
the written agenda, Ahmedinejad delivered a largely 
non-inflammatory speech that included a twelve-point proposal 
to advance cooperation between Iran and the countries of the 
GCC.  He spoke sitting at a rostrum just to one side of the 
six heads of state. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Beginning by expressing his hope that God will 
hasten the appearance of the missing Iman, Ahmedinejad spoke 
of the need for peace based on justice without foreign 
intervention, said Iran and the countries of the GCC have 
common friends as well as common enemies, and emphasized that 
they are all united by their faith and brotherhood.  His 
specific proposals included the following: 
 
-- Lift the visa requirement to allow free movement by 
Iranian citizens and allow Iranians to own property in GCC 
countries; 
 
-- Seek opportunities for joint investments, including the 
petroleum sector; 
 
-- Establish free trade zones; 
 
-- Iran is prepared to provide water and gas to GCC countries; 
 
-- Establish a "north-south corridor and facilitate 
commercial links by rail and road; 
 
-- Develop tourism in the region; 
 
-- Develop stronger relations between Islamic countries and 
poorer countries, including through establishment of a joint 
fund for development.  (In this way, he said, we would not 
see injustices such as those inflicted on the Palestinian 
people.); 
 
-- Increase cooperation on security to ensure that the region 
is free of tension and of intervention by foreign powers; 
 
-- Expand educational and scientific exchanges and 
cooperation; 
 
-- Cooperate to safeguard the environment "in the Persian 
Gulf and the Gulf of Oman." 
 
(Note:  the numbering of his proposals was muddled, perhaps 
by the interpreter, leaving it unclear where one point ended 
and the next one began.  This may clarify if a written 
version of Ahmedinejad's remarks is issued.  End note.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) Ahmedinejad closed with a call to make the Persian 
Gulf a "gulf of peace," expressed his hope that this GCC 
Summit is a starting point to open a new page of cooperation, 
and issued a call to hold a joint meeting in Tehran to 
discuss all aspects of Iran-GCC cooperation. 
 
----------------------- 
ALL EYES ON AHMEDINEJAD 
----------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) The head of the GCC Department at MFA, Youssef 
Al-Jaber, told us December 2 that the invitation for the 
Iranian president to attend as an observer (an invitation 
also extended to the presidents of Egypt, Yemen and Turkey, 
as well as the heads of the Arab League, Islamic Conference, 
United Nations and European Union) was issued by Qatar 
following consultations with the GCC Council.  A former 
member of the GCC Consultative Committee, Qatar University 
Professor Abdulaziz Kamal added December 3 that the Iranian 
President was invited with the official aim of lessening 
tensions in the Gulf.  Unofficially, said Kamal, the 
invitation may have been extended to provide Iran an 
opportunity to affirm that its nuclear program is purely for 
peaceful purposes.  In Kamal's view, Iranian President 
Mahmoud Ahmedinejad would use the opportunity to encourage 
the GCC states to join Iran in establishing a regional 
nuclear consortium. 
 
¶5. (C) The Turkish ambassador told Charge that the Turkish 
prime minister, one of several regional leaders invited as 
special guests, was told that no special guest would have a 
speaking role.  In the event, Ahmedinejad was the only 
special invitee to accept the invitation and the only 
participant at the opening ceremony besides the Amir of Qatar 
 
DOHA 00001127  002 OF 002 
 
 
with a speaking role. 
 
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GCC PUBLICS YEARN FOR CHANGES IN DAILY LIFE 
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¶6. (C) Based on his discussions with GCC officials, Kamal 
predicted that the summit, outside of the Iranian issue, 
would focus on economic, cultural, and educational matters. 
Asked if creation of a common GCC currency or a change in the 
dollar peg for existing GCC currencies was on the agenda, he 
reported that the GCC Foreign Ministers did not include this 
topic.  Kamal noted, however, that currency issues could 
nonetheless come up during the discussions among the heads of 
state.  In Kamal's view, the citizenry of GCC states had lost 
trust in GCC summits as a mechanism to improve their daily 
lives. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) A sampling by Al-Jazeera and Qatar national 
television of public opinion in GCC states on the eve of this 
28th GCC Summit depicted largely disillusioned publics.  Of 
the persons interviewed on the street, in what was not a 
scientific survey, the majority expected little from this 
summit.  Most were pessimistic if not unenthusiastic, 
complaining that whatever decisions the heads of states took 
would likely not be implemented.  Few of the individuals 
interviewed expressed the concerns of the elites over the 
Iranian nuclear program and whether Yemen would be extended 
an invitation to join the GCC.  Rather, they voiced the view 
that this summit should focus on the (largely economic) 
concerns of ordinary people: 
 
--  Allowing GCC nationals to travel to other member 
countries without passports; 
--  Establishment of a single GCC market for goods and 
services 
--  Creation of a single currency 
--  Further economic integration of the GCC states 
--  Implementation of previous GCC decisions 
 
¶8. (C) Comment:  The attendance of Saudi King Abdullah, with 
whom Qatar's Amir has long had strained relations, was a 
diplomatic success for the host.  The key question now is 
what mileage Ahmedinejad gets out of his trip to Doha.  Given 
a sufficient platform to bolster his legitimacy as the first 
Iranian leader to attend a GCC summit, any admonishment given 
to him by heads of state in private will be as lost on GCC 
publics as the unfulfilled promises of summits past. 
RATNEY