VZCZCXRO3128
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHKUK
DE RUEHDO #1133/01 3381330
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 041330Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7322
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
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 001133 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/04/2017 
TAGS: PREL EFIN GCC IR QA
SUBJECT: GCC SUMMIT WRAPS UP IN DOHA WITHOUT NOTABLE 
ACHIEVEMENTS 
 
REF: DOHA 1127 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael A. Ratney, 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit officially 
closed December 4 with a brief and low-key ceremony and with 
no notable achievements.  Neither the Iranian president nor 
the UAE president attended the closing.  (According to press 
reports, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad departed Doha 
the morning of December 4 and UAE President Sheikh Khalifa 
bin Zayed Al-Nahyan departed the evening of December 3. 
Sheikh Khalifa and Ahmedinejad reportedly met the evening of 
December 3, paving the way for discussions later that evening 
between their foreign ministers on three UAE islands claimed 
by Iran.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
AHMEDINEJAD SCORES ON THE NUCLEAR ISSUE BUT LITTLE ELSE 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶2. (C) Qatar's former Information Minister and Ambassador to 
the UN and the United States, Hamad Al-Kuwari, told us 
December 4 the big news from this GCC Summit was the timing 
of the latest U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, 
which strengthened the hand of President Ahmedinejad, in 
Al-Kuwari's view, as he stood aside the GCC leaders in Doha. 
Al-Kuwari, a member of the GCC consultative committee, said 
the U.S. statement weakened the U.S. call for further 
sanctions against Iran at a pivotal moment.  According to 
Al-Kuwari, GCC leaders and opinion makers noted Ahmedinejad's 
purposeful omission in his speech at the GCC opening ceremony 
of Iran's nuclear activities (see reftel for key elements of 
his address), a subject which he nevertheless took up at his 
evening press conference of December 3. 
 
¶3. (U) In his press conference, Ahmedinejad reconfirmed that 
the Iranian nuclear program was for peaceful purposes and 
that IAEA concerns had been fully addressed.  The GCC heads 
of state, according to GCC Secretary General Abdulrahman bin 
Hamad Al Attiyah, welcomed Iran's desire to enhance its 
cooperation with the GCC.  Asked about Iran's nuclear plans, 
he said any nuclear activities which comply with the 
guidelines of the IAEA are legal, in the eyes of the GCC. 
 
¶4. (C) Despite the feeling that Ahmedinejad's stature was 
enhanced at the summit, Al-Kuwari told us the GCC leaders did 
not budge on the Iranians' principal desire:  paving the way 
for Iranian investment in the GCC states and relaxation of 
travel restrictions on Iranians to GCC countries.  It did not 
help, noted local press commentaries, that the Iranian 
President referred several times to the "Persian" Gulf in his 
speech at the opening ceremony, reaffirming suspicions 
leaders that Iran, and Ahmedinejad in particular, aims to 
re-establish a "Greater Persia." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
QATAR'S FOREIGN MINISTER SPINS IRANIAN PARTICIPATION 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶5. (C) Qatar's Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Hamad Bin 
Jasim Al-Thani (HBJ), told the press December 4 that 
Ahmedinejad proposed to the GOQ that he be invited to the GCC 
summit.  HBJ said the invitation was extended after 
coordination with all GCC members.  (NOTE:  The press gave 
prominent coverage to photographs of Saudi King Abdullah and 
Ahmedinejad walking hand-in-hand, sending a message, 
according to observers here, that that the Iranian leader's 
participation was no surprise and was fully coordinated ahead 
of time.  This, and HBJ's claim to the press, contradict 
Kuwaiti FM Al-Sabah's assertion to Qatar's Al-Watan newspaper 
that Kuwait learned about Ahmedinejad's summit participation 
only from press reports.) 
 
¶6. (SBU) HBJ stressed to the press that Ahmedinejad's 
proposals are positive and show good intentions.  He added 
that Iran is a neighboring country and the GCC is keep to 
establish good relations, cooperation, and dialogue with 
Iran.  HBJ said that the U.S. is a strategic ally and that 
all GCC countries enjoy good relations with the U.S.  But 
this, he added, should not prevent them from having good 
relations with Iran as well.  He said that Iran is a 
neighbor, and having good relations with Iran enhances the 
stability in a region that exports about 40 percent of world 
energy needs. 
 
-------------------- 
FEW TANGIBLE RESULTS 
-------------------- 
 
 
DOHA 00001133  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶7. (C) The one positive outcome of the summit, according to 
former Qatari Justice Minister and well-connected lawyer 
Najeeb Al-Nauimi, was an understanding between the GCC 
leaders and Ahmedinejad that Iran would increase its efforts 
on curbing the smuggling of drugs and other contraband from 
Iran to GCC states.   Nevertheless, stressed Al-Nauimi, there 
was remarkably little progress on the issues that matter most 
to the people of GCC states (see reftel).  For example, there 
was no movement toward the creation of a GCC common market or 
passport-free travel for citizens of GCC countries to other 
member states.  Of particular interest to the U.S., added 
Al-Nauimi, the GCC heads of state did not broach the issue of 
depegging the currencies of GCC countries from the U.S. 
dollar.  The final communique touted the reaffirmation of the 
GCC goal of a common market and common currency by 2010, 
though Al-Nauimi discounted the prospect of any near-term 
progress in this area. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶8. (C) The communique issued at the summit's close was short 
on achievements, but expectations were low to begin with. 
Had Ahmedinejad not participated, the story would have been 
Saudi King Abdullah's decision come to Doha - a victory of 
sorts for the Qatari Amir.  In the event, Abdullah and the 
others sat by and watched Ahmedinejad make the headlines. 
The truth behind Ahmedinejad's invitation may take some time 
to sort out (no doubt there is enough disingenuousness to go 
around).  But at the very least, it will stoke new complaints 
among Qatar's GCC brothers and fresh accusations of Qatari 
duplicity. 
 
 
RATNEY