US embassy cables: Prince Andrew hunts with Arab leaders

Tuesday, 03 June 2003, 12:50
C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 002641
SIPDIS
S/S-O PLEASE PASS NEA A/S BURNS
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/ARN AND NEA/ENA
NSC FOR THEROUX
EO 12958 DECL: 06/03/08
TAGS PREL, EPET, EAID, PGOV, JO, MO, SA, KU, TC
SUBJECT: UAE TO SUPPORT JORDAN OIL NEEDS FOR
THREE MORE MONTHS, PROVIDED $40 MILLION TO RABAT AFTER TERROR ATTACKS
REF: Abu Dhabi 1384

Summary
In a report on the UAE's ongoing assistance to Jordan and Morocco, it is mentioned that Prince Andrew often hunts in Morocco and Tanzania with the Jordanian king and UAE armed forces chief of staff. Key passage highlighted in yellow.


1. (U) Classified by Ambassador Marcelle M. Wahba for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D).

2. (C) MFA Minstate Hamdan bin Zayid contacted the Ambassador on June 2 to convey information about the UAEG's ongoing assistance to Jordan and Morocco. With regard to Jordan, Hamdan reported that the UAE has agreed to continue supporting Jordan's oil needs for the next three months. Hamdan indicated the level of support would continue to be the cash equivalent of 25,000 barrels per day. The UAE began helping to fill Jordan's oil needs at the outbreak of hostilities with Iraq in March. While the Jordanians, in recent representations to the UAE, asked for support to cover the next year, Hamdan advised that the UAE, due to its own financial crunch, would only be able to provide assistance for the next three months.

3. (C) Hamdan also informed the Ambassador that, following the terror attacks in Casablanca, the UAEG provided $40 million in cash assistance to Morocco. The Moroccans intend to use the money to purchase much needed equipment. The Emiratis have asked the Moroccans to provide an accounting for the money spent. Hamdan confided that he had told his Kuwaiti and Saudi counterparts the UAE's donation was $80 million, in an effort to encourage them to give more. He wanted to make sure that the USG knew the real UAE contribution, in the event that this is raised with us.

4. (C) COMMENT: Jordan and Morocco both enjoy extremely close ties to the UAE. The Emiratis have long felt it important to provide economic assistance and support to these two moderate Arab states. The fact that Abu Dhabi is offering cash assistance, vice assistance-in-kind, is a measure of just how close these ties are since the Emiratis usually balk at writing checks. The UAE's strong official ties with Jordan and Morocco are bolstered by personal relationships between the ruling families. Jordanian King Abdullah II is a close friend of UAE Armed Forces Chief of Staff Muhammad bin Zayid Al-Nahyan (MbZ). The two frequently hunt -- in Morocco and Tanzania -- joined, more often than not, by England's Prince Andrew. The ties with the Moroccan monarch are equally warm. Shaykh Zayid and other Emirati ruling family members maintain vacation palaces in Morocco and have poured money into assistance projects there. END COMMENT.

WAHBA