VZCZCXRO1744
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHKUK
DE RUEHAD #0793/01 1900936
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 080936Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1179
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI PRIORITY 7828
RUEHDE/IRAN RPO DUBAI PRIORITY
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 ABU DHABI 000793 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP, T, ISN AND ISN/CPI CHERRINGTON 
COMMERCE FOR BIS U/S MANCUSO, DELLI-COLLI, LEE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/08/2018 
TAGS: ECON ETRD OTRA IR BEXB ETTC AE
SUBJECT:  VISIT OF COMMERCE UNDER SECRETARY MARIO MANCUSO JUNE 22-24, 
2008 
 
REF: A. ABU DHABI 00729 
 ¶B. DUBAI 167 
 
ABU DHABI 00000793  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Classified by Charge d'Affaires Martin Quinn, reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Mario 
Mancuso visited the UAE from June 22-24, 2008 and met with key UAE 
government and commercial interlocuters to discuss export control, 
counterproliferation and foreign direct investment issues. During 
this visit U/S Mancuso  met with the following officials: Sheikha 
Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister for Foreign Trade; Brigadier General 
Mohammad Al Qemzi, UAE Chair of the Counterproliferation Task Force; 
Oliver Owcza, Deputy Chief of Mission at the German Embassy;  Hisham 
Al Sherawi, Vice Chairman at the Dubai Chamber and Dubai Chamber 
Director General Hamad Buamim. 
 
¶2. (S) During visits with UAE officials, the UAE government 
emphasized the need for transparency and follow-up on information 
relating to interdiction cases in particular. They highlighted their 
strong preference to act multilaterally in counterproliferation 
efforts. They also expressed their concern as to why the U.S. did not 
try to stop shipments of concern prior to their arriving in the UAE, 
i.e. items originating in the U.S. itself or transiting other 
transshipment hubs. Regarding foreign direct investment in the United 
States, UAE officials counseled that it was important for the U.S. 
and global economy to guard against "protectionism." 
End summary. 
 
Undersecretary Mancuso's Message 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (S) U/S Mancuso commended the UAE for its progress in passing an 
export control law and on its cooperation on sensitive enforcement 
efforts.   At the same time, U/S Mancuso strongly urged his 
government counterparts to promptly develop an empowered body within 
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate export control issues 
and harmonize the UAE control lists with International/European Union 
standards.  U/S Mancuso highlighted understandable congressional 
interest in Iran and the role of the UAE in transshipments/blocking 
transshipments to Iran. He informed UAE officials on developments in 
Congress regarding proposed legislation by influential members that 
could negatively highlight the UAE as a destination of concern for 
U.S. exports. U/S Mancuso emphasized the Administration's opposition 
to such proposed legislation which could place additional licensing 
restrictions on the UAE due to the perception that the UAE may not be 
serious in following through with its export control development. 
Regarding foreign direct investment in the United States, he stressed 
that the U.S. government policy is clear in that the USG welcomes 
"appropriate, commercially driven" foreign investment in the United 
States. U/S Mancuso explained that the CFIUS process and the new 
CFIUS law are more transparent and now more tightly focused on 
national security.(Note: U/S Mancuso repeated these messages during 
all the meetings hereinafter discussed. End Note.) 
 
Foreign Trade and Export Controls 
---------------------------------- 
 
4.(C) U/S Mancuso met with Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of 
Foreign Trade to discuss the US-UAE bilateral trade, investment and 
export control relationship. Regarding foreign direct investment in 
the United States, Sheikh Lubna counseled that it was important for 
the U.S. and global economy to guard against "protectionism." Sheikha 
Lubna expressed her appreciation for U.S. assistance in export 
control development. She explained that UAE work in the area of 
export controls was done to protect the UAE's reputation first and 
foremost as well as to honor the UAE's commitment to its 
international obligations. Lubna thanked U/S Mancuso for his 
appraisal of the situation in the U.S. Congress relative to potential 
legislative efforts to mandate a "country group C" designation. Lubna 
explained that it was in the UAE interest to do a better job in close 
coordination with the administration to educate the Congress on the 
breadth and full scope of the U.S.-UAE relationship. Lubna stated 
that in the newly appointed UAE Ambassador to the United States, 
Yousef Al-Otaiba, the UAE has the ideal advocate to deliver this 
message to Congress. 
 
¶5. (S) Sheikha Lubna highlighted the UAE's strong preference to act 
multilaterally in counterproliferation efforts. She stated that the 
UAE does not want to be branded as the place where unilateral 
interdictions/inspections are conducted at the behest of the U.S. 
Government. She also expressed the UAE's concerns as to why the U.S. 
did not try and stop shipments of concern prior to their arriving in 
the UAE, i.e. items originating in the U.S. itself or transiting 
 
ABU DHABI 00000793  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
other transshipment hubs where the U.S. has influence. Lubna 
explained that ships that are transiting or refueling in UAE ports do 
not enter UAE jurisdiction and as such they are not subject to 
inspection. In such cases, if inspections/interdictions are requested 
the U.S. should engage with the country of origin to handle any such 
inspection. 
 
German View of UAE Export Controls 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (S) U/S Mancuso met with the outgoing German DCM Oliver Owcza to 
discuss the German perspective on  UAE export controls. Owcza 
explained that he sees two main issues that affect the UAE's ability 
to implement its export control law: (1) institutional capacity and 
lack of credible human resources; and (2) uncertain political will 
among all the Emirates to export controls. Owcza stated that 
institutional issues include the inability of the government to 
dedicate the credible human resources necessary to undertake the 
complicated task of formulating a body dedicated to export controls. 
Owcza went on to state that the UAE has treated the issue as somewhat 
of a "hot potato", where no one agency has stepped up to take the 
lead on the implementation of the law. He also stated that it is not 
clear how committed other Emirates (aside from Abu Dhabi) are to 
export controls or the implementation of the new law. Finally, Owcza 
stated that cooperation with the UAE on German interdictions and 
investigations of shipments of proliferation concern has been good. 
 
Counterproliferation Cooperation 
--------------------------------- 
 
7.(S) U/S Mancuso met with Brigadier General Mohammed Al Qemzi, Chair 
of the UAE Counter-Proliferation Task Force.  Al Qemzi thanked U/S 
Mancuso for US assistance and asserted that UAE police and 
intelligence services were working hard to implement the provisions 
of the recently-enacted export control law.  Even before the export 
law was formally passed, though, Al Qemzi stated the UAE was one of 
the first countries to join the Proliferation Security Initiative 
(PSI) and has historically been very active in stemming the flow of 
illegal goods and closing companies with questionable business 
practices. 
 
8.(S) Al Qemzi remarked that he was unsure why members of Congress 
continued to harbor unfavorable views of the UAE, especially since 
President Bush and other members of Congress have made high-profile 
trips to the region and have affirmed the strength of the bilateral 
relationship.  He stressed that the UAE was fully committed to 
enforcing export controls within the bounds of international 
obligations and noted that such enforcement was not just in the 
interest of the international community but is conducted for the 
UAE's own national interests. 
 
Improving Information Exchange 
------------------------------- 
 
9.(S) A member of Al Qemzi's staff interjected  that the timeliness 
of shared intelligence in interdiction cases should be improved, 
noting that it often takes time to activate the requisite 
police/intelligence forces necessary to respond to specific, 
actionable intelligence.  An updated listing of the prohibited 
companies and clarity on restricted materials would also improve the 
efficiency of counterproliferation efforts. 
 
¶10. (S) Al Qemzi took the opportunity to raise the issue of Mayrow, 
complaining that the U.S. had not adequately responded to a number of 
questions raised by UAE authorities. (Note: Mayrow was a trading firm 
in Dubai that was involved in supplying electronic components that 
were being used to develop IEDs in Iraq. End note.) He also 
repeatedly emphasized that the Counterproliferation Task Force (CTF) 
was not the appropriate forum to discuss Mayrow issues since it has 
nothing to do with counterproliferation. Al Qemzi pointed to the 
repeated inquiries in which the UAE asked the USG for clarification 
but did not receive any response. Al Qemzi explained that the 
government can be held liable under UAE law for closing Mayrow 
related companies without any justifiable legal cause and that is why 
they were asking for answers to  additional questions. He explained 
they wanted to protect themselves from a suit by the closed 
companies. Al Qemzi concluded by stating that cooperation is a 
two-way street and that he considers the Mayrow issue to be closed, a 
comment he also made at the most recent Counterproliferation Task 
Force meeting.  U/S Mancuso stated that the U.S. had responded to the 
UAE's request for more information as fully as practicable.  While he 
agreed that improvements in communication should be made, he urged 
the UAE to not rely exclusively on the U.S. for 3rd party 
information/tips. 
 
 
 
ABU DHABI 00000793  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
Industry Outreach - The Dubai Chamber 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (C) U/S Mancuso met with Hisham Al Sherawi, the Dubai Chamber's 
Second Vice Chairman and Dubai Chamber Director General Hamad Buamim. 
Both officials commented that they were heavily consulted by the UAE 
Ministry of Economy during the drafting of the export control law and 
they felt that the law provides sufficient legal authority to combat 
illicit activity.  An issue brought up by Dubai Chamber officials was 
their perception of dual-use items. They felt that dual use is a 
vague concept and noted that many items considered to be dual-use are 
very difficult to control.  They remarked that better guidance on 
what specifically constitutes a controlled item would improve the 
UAE's ability to deal with dual use controls.  Al Sherawi stated that 
the UAE export law was operational and that coordination between the 
UAE customs, the intelligence services, and the Dubai Chamber has 
been excellent. They explained that a special intelligence unit has 
been established within the Chamber to address companies of concern. 
 Specifically addressing Iranian activity, Buamim explained that all 
transactions involving Iranian companies and citizens are flagged and 
must be cleared with appropriate UAE intelligence agencies through 
this unit. Buamim added that Iranian companies and citizens also face 
many additional restrictions in the UAE, including supplementary 
banking requirements, restrictive business licensing, and additional 
immigration scrutiny. Al Sherawi added that the UAE is always ready 
to cooperate within the bounds of UAE law. (Comment: Buamim and Al 
Sherawi's remarks are consistent with earlier conversations with USG 
officials, see reftel B. End Comment). 
QUINN