VZCZCXRO0210
OO RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHAD #0403/01 0921506
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 011506Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0671
RHMFIUU/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1261
RHBVAKS/COMUSNAVCENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABU DHABI 000403 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; INR/NESA; INR/B; 
RRU-NEA 
IIP/G/NEA-SA 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC 
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA 
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD 
LONDON FOR SREEBNY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC
SUBJECT:  MEDIA REACTION: ARAB SUMMIT 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: 
 
Columnists in U.A.E. Arabic dailies generally considered the Arab 
Summit as a success because the Arab leaders managed to meet despite 
recommendations to boycott it.  This was explicitly highlighted by 
one columnist in Al-Khaleej who deemed the summit was a major step 
forward.  In a more sarcastic piece, a Lebanese writer in Al-Khaleej 
wondered why the American agenda was absent during the summit and 
found the summit to be a success in that it did not fulfill 
Washington's hopes for its failure.  Also, in Al-Khaleej, a 
columnist shed light on the fact that Americans historically wanted 
to prevent Arab, and stated the American slogan for Arab nations is 
"partition is the solution." 
 
One columnist in "Al-Bayan" bashed American officials for promoting 
the boycott of the Arab summit to some Arab leaders while at the 
same time having their American armies kill Iraqis, Afghanis and 
Palestinians. 
 
On the issue of the U.A.E. occupied islands, a U.A.E. columnist in 
Al-Ittihad noted that Qadhafi's speech did not appeal to the Arab 
audience. Qadhafi was perceived as clearly flirting with Iran when 
he implied that 80% of the Gulf state's inhabitants whom have 
Iranian roots. 
 
Interestingly, a Qatari writer in Al-Bayan downplayed the use of 
Arab summits, reasoning that they were not able to solve even the 
smallest Arab problem.  He ridiculed a Syrian Mufti who issued a 
fatwa stating that every Arab leader is obliged to attend the 
Damascus summit lest the leader be sinful.  End Summary. 
 
 
¶2. Under the headline "What comes after the summit?" columnist, 
Jaafar Mohammed Ahmed, wrote 04/01 in "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 
90,000): 
 
"Some observers focused on the positive elements of the Arab summit 
while others focused on the negative ones.  However, the fact that 
the summit was convened at the scheduled time and place is a success 
in itself.  Summit participants agreed that Arab multilateral 
relations were not strong and are passing through a difficult 
period.  We hope the Damascus summit will be a major step forward in 
activating its resolutions, working toward overcoming internal Arab 
disputes and deterring foreign interventions that aim at 
intensifying Arab problems." 
 
 
¶3. Under the headline "Who was the biggest absentee in Damascus 
summit?," Lebanese writer, Saad Mehio, wrote 03/26 in "Al-Khaleej": 
 
"Did we notice something that did not happen in the Damascus summit? 
 The American agenda was absent, in contrast to previous Arab 
summits.  Palestine became the summit's main issue instead of Iran, 
the Arab peace initiative with Israel is no longer proposed without 
conditions, and the summit succeeded in preventing the Lebanese 
crisis from blowing up the summit, as Washington hoped and aspired 
for." 
 
 
¶4.  Under the headline "Why isolate Syria?", a columnist, Ahmed 
Omarabi wrote 03/31 in Dubai-based Arabic daily "Al-Bayan" 
(circulation 85,000): 
 
"Why does America want to regionally isolate Syria and politically 
besiege it? Answer: Syria is Iran's ally and Iran is the biggest 
supporter of the Lebanese armed resistance [Hizballah], providing it 
with money and weapons, and Hezbollah threatens Israel's security." 
 
"How do we perceive the alliance of an Arab country [possibly Saudi 
Arabia] with America and Israel against this Lebanese armed 
resistance [Hizballah], taking a hostile position against Iran that 
supports this resistance and then expanding on this and going 
against Syria for its alliance with Iran in support of the Lebanese 
resistance?" 
"Arab countries should support resistance against Israeli 
occupation, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, or at least take a neutral 
position.  But to form an alliance with America - the greatest 
 
ABU DHABI 00000403  002 OF 003 
 
 
strategic partner of Israel - against Arab resistance is something 
unacceptable." 
 
 
¶5. Under the headline "Americans and the Arab Summit's agenda", Dr. 
Mohammed Al-Saeed Idris, wrote 03/26 in "Al-Khaleej": 
 
"Americans have worked since WWII to prevent unity in the Arab 
nation.  They seek to abort the Arab League.  Perhaps the American 
refusal to sign a collective free trade agreement with the GCC is an 
evidence of this." 
"The American slogan for Arab nations is "partition is the 
solution"; [it is] like the English one, "divide and conquer".  The 
United States is the basic force behind the Lebanese crisis, [but] 
America wants us to think that Syria is the main hurdle in Lebanon. 
Likewise, regarding Iraq, where [they claim] Iran should be 
considered the main problem.  What America really wants is for Arabs 
to ignore the American occupation of Iraq and the American scheme in 
Lebanon." 
 
 
¶6.  Under the headline "Arab nationalism in Washington's range", 
Bassil Abu Hamda, wrote 03/31 in Dubai-based Arabic daily 
"Al-Bayan": 
 
"Are not some American officials, like Dick Cheney and others, 
ashamed of inciting several Arab countries to boycott a summit whose 
only weapon was words, dialogue and understanding, while American 
armies are pouring rockets and missiles down on innocent citizens in 
Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and other parts of the world?" 
 
 
¶7. A last-page column in Al-Ittihad 3/31 entitled "Al-Qadhafi's 
political flirting" by UAE columnist Nasir Al-Dhahiri read: 
 
"Arab audiences trust Qadhafi's wide knowledge and awareness of 
Arabs' situation, but this audience lately did not like what he 
suggested in his speech: resolving the UAE islands issue through an 
international court, because it is not in the Arabs' interest to be 
Iran's enemies just for some islands [claimed by] some Gulf 
countries, 80% of whose inhabitants have Iranian roots!" 
 
"Neither side can take this initiative seriously.  We do not know 
what is misleading research centers or even pro-Iranian 
organizations Qadhafi relied on for his assumption that 80% of Gulf 
inhabitants have Iranian origins." 
 
"What political flirting is Qadhafi doing with Iran at the expense 
of a national issue [UAE's islands]?" 
 
 
¶8.  Under the headline "Issuing Fatwas to serve Damascus summit... 
Why?", atari writer, Dr. Abdul Hamid Al-Ansari, wrote in his op-ed 
in "Al-Bayan": 
 
"General Syrian Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Hassoun issued a fatwa stating 
that every Arab leader is obliged to attend the Damascus summit 
unless has a medical excuse, or he will be sinful; no leader should 
send someone to represent him." 
 
"Why do we need such weird fatwas and threatening religious 
statements? Why do we embarrass our leaders with such religious 
fatwas? Do such fatwas further Arab interests or Arab solidarity? 
Don't these fatwas offend the religion itself and the status of 
religious fatwas in the eyes of the Islamic audience? Don't these 
fatwas offend the status of the Sheikhs and the Islamic scholars 
[who issue them] especially after hearing that these scholars issue 
their fatwas according to political instructions they receive from 
the government? Using religion to serve politics is a dangerous 
thing." 
 
"These sheikhs propelled our youth to go to Iraq and fight the 
American occupier.  These youth were later killed in Iraq and today 
these Sheikhs exempt themselves from their fatwas.  These Sheikhs 
are the greatest sinners.  This case resembles the religious 
situation that spread in Europe during the medieval ages under the 
hegemony of the church and its control in the lives of the 
Europeans." 
 
ABU DHABI 00000403  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
"The Damascus Summit does not need statements or fatwas condemning 
leaders; it is just an Arab summit like other previous summits that 
were not able to solve the smallest Arab problem.  The problem is 
not in the summit; it is in the flawed Arab political body, with the 
exception of the Gulf, the only healthy part of the body." 
 
 
 
 
 
QUINN