VZCZCXRO2703
PP RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDIR
DE RUEHKU #1101/01 3231337
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191337Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4208
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 001101 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/ARP, NEA/I, OSD-DPMO FOR LTC BILL THOMAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM MARR PGOV IZ KU
SUBJECT: TRIPARTITE CELEBRATES IRAQI EFFORTS, REMAINS 
RECOVERIES IN KUWAIT 
 
REF: A. 2008 KUWAIT 1160 
     ¶B. KUWAIT 1048 
     ¶C. KUWAIT 972 
 
¶1.  This is an Action Request.  See Para 6. 
 
¶2.  Summary.  Ambassador led the U.S. delegation to the 32nd 
Tripartite Commission (TC) meeting on November 18, which 
though it closed only one official remains file, registered a 
spirit of optimism that was in stark contrast to last year's 
negative assessment of progress (ref A) in repatriating Gulf 
War dead.  US-sparked Kuwaiti initiatives to recover the 
remains of Iraqi KIAs (ref B) coupled with determined GOI 
Ministry of Human Rights (MOHR) leadership and efforts were 
commended roundly by the 
delegations.  Underscoring GOI support for remains recovery 
initiatives was the active participation 
in Iraqi discussions of MOHR Minister Wijdan Salem, 
accompanied by newly-arrived Iraqi CDA to Kuwait Dr. Ajwad 
Shaykh Taha.  End Summary. 
 
Recap of Highlights 
------------------- 
 
¶3.  ICRC's Senior Deputy Head of Operations for the Middle 
East and North Africa, Eric Marclay, recapped for the 32nd 
Tripartite Commission (TC) November 18 the increased measures 
taken by the GOI in the search for the Kuwaitis still missing 
since 1991 and believed to be in mass graves in sites in 
Iraq.  These measures include GOI efforts to excavate sites 
in Kerbala, Ramadi, and most recently Nasseriya, an August 
public awareness campaign, and active follow-up of eyewitness 
accounts.  A US-sparked initiative that resulted in the 
November 3-4 finding of mortal remains in the Kuwaiti desert 
(ref B) was also extolled as one of the key factors that has 
led to improved dialogue and bilateral cooperation in the 
search for the missing.  (For meeting notes, please visit 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Tripartite< /a> Commission for 
Gulf War Missing). 
 
Kuwaiti Action Plan 
------------------- 
 
¶4.  Capitalizing on the current wave of goodwill and 
proactivity, the GOK's National Committee for Missing and POW 
Affairs (NCMPA) submitted to the TC a new action plan to 
better shape the ongoing investigation into eyewitness 
accounts.  In this plan, the GOK called for the GOI to 
provide detailed information on all 1990-91 Iraqi military 
and public officials who served in the chains of command of 
those who ordered the executions of the captured Kuwaitis. 
The plan also offered a Kuwaiti review of pre-2003 NCMPA 
files and eyewitness and survivor accounts in hopes that this 
research might yield useful new leads on eyewitnesses who may 
have been reluctant to give their accounts during the Saddam 
Hussain years. 
 
¶5.  Also, the USG was requested to provide details relevant 
to Kuwaiti executions that may appear in transcripts of the 
criminal proceedings against Iraqi war criminal Hassan Abdul 
Majeed (reportedly in USG custody).  ICRC announced its 
intention to have new Baghdad Head of Delegation Magne Barth 
query Majeed in the near future about his knowledge of 
Kuwaiti executions and burials. 
 
Recovering Iraqi KIAs 
--------------------- 
 
¶6.  Action request.  In what is believed to be the first 
official GOI call for the repatriation of Iraqi war dead, 
Minister Wijdan Salem requested assistance in providing 
information that might result in further excavations and 
recoveries of Iraqi missing believed to be buried in mass 
graves in Kuwait.  ICRC officials in informal remarks to 
Embassy staff have indicated that they believe that the USG 
may have archival material which would assist with the Iraqi 
request.  Embassy requests Department guidance on how to 
respond. 
 
Next Year in Baghdad? 
--------------------- 
 
¶7.  Elucidating renewed GOI support for the mandate, the GOI 
restated its standing invitation to host a TC or Technical 
Subcommittee (TSC) meeting in Baghdad, an offer warmly 
received -- in principle -- by the delegates.  March 2010 was 
forecast as the first available opportunity for such an 
event.  (Note:  The Saudi delegation, headed by their 
Ambassador, was decidedly coy regarding a Baghdad venue, 
 
KUWAIT 00001101  002 OF 002 
 
 
recognizing that the Kuwaitis seemed happy to host these 
events and that they -- the Saudis -- would follow the Kuwait 
lead.  End note.) 
 
CAPT Speicher File Closed 
------------------------- 
 
¶8.  Ambassador, noting for the TC the recovery and 
identification of CAPT Speicher's remains over the summer, 
officially closed his file and extended to the TC USG 
gratitude for keeping the case active since 1991. 
 
********************************************* ********* 
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: 
visit Kuwait's Classified Website at: 
 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it 
********************************************* ********* 
JONES