VZCZCXRO5071
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #3074/01 2550833
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 120833Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM PRIORITY 0017
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3341
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003074 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2017 
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ SW
SUBJECT: SWEDISH FOREIGN MINISTER--FOCUS ON IMMIGRATION--NO 
IMMEDIATE PLANS FOR AN EMBASSY 
 
Classified By: Classified by Political Counsellor Matthew H. Tueller fo 
r Reasons 1.4d/b 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY.  Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, 
Immigration Minister Tobias Billstrom, Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs Director Bjorn Lyrvall, and Swedish Ambassador to 
Iraq (stationed in Jordan) Niclas Trouve discussed a wide 
range of political issues with Ambassador Crocker and 
suggested Sweden would become more engaged in Iraq. 
Immigration seemed to be Bildt's primary concern; and while 
he touched on internal, bilateral and multilateral issues, he 
did not once mention the European Union.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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Swedish Embassy in Baghdad-Lack of Funds and Return 
Agreement Are Impediments 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶2.  (C)  In a September 2 breakfast meeting, Ambassador 
Crocker, accompanied by Minister for Economic Affairs Charles 
Ries and Political Counselor Matthew Tueller, told Foreign 
Minister Bildt how pleased the GOI was with the Swedish FM,s 
visit.  Bildt explained he was in Baghdad to demonstrate 
Sweden,s support for recent political progress and in 
particular the leaders, agreement.  He emphasized that he 
wanted to make Sweden relevant in Iraq, but told us the GOS 
had no immediate plans to establish an embassy in Baghdad. 
Bildt blamed this on budget constraints and lack of progress 
on a return agreement for Iraqi refugees illegally in Sweden. 
(NOTE:  Bildt cancelled the Kurdistan leg of his trip over 
this issue, much to the displeasure of KRG President Massoud 
Barzani.  Perhaps not coincidentally, a day before Bildt,s 
arrival, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani cancelled his Baghdad 
meeting with him.  However, in a pre-trip video conference 
with Embassy Economic and Political Counselors, Bildt 
confirmed that a trip to Kurdistan was still on his agenda. 
END NOTE)  Bildt closed by saying once the GOS and the GOI 
conclude an agreement,  the GOS will move ahead with an 
Embassy in Baghdad.  Ambassador Crocker offered logistical 
support to facilitate the operation. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Iraqi Immigrants A Major Concern For The GOS 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C)  Foreign Minister Bildt estimated that approximately 
100,000 Iraqis live in Sweden and told 
Ambassador Crocker that if the United States accepted Iraqi 
asylees and refugees at the same pace, the US would have over 
500,000 Iraqi residents.  He explained that the majority were 
Kurds who fled the former regime,s persecution but stressed 
that since 2003, most Iraqis arriving in Sweden were Arabs. 
He said that in 2007, the GOS expected 20,000 asylum 
petitions and would approve approximately 74 percent.  The 26 
percent not approved were the reason Iraqi immigration had 
become a Swedish domestic issue and that concluding a return 
agreement was critically important for the GOS.  Bildt 
observed that without a mechanism for returning illegal 
aliens, the immigration problem would spiral out of control 
in a country of only nine million inhabitants.  Both the FM 
and Immigration Minister Tobias Billstrom said recent 
arrivals were more difficult to assimilate because they often 
arrive destitute (Billstrom estimated travel expenses alone 
exceed USD 20,000), poorly educated, and without professional 
or language skills.  Bildt and Billstrom also mentioned 
several high profile honor killings as prompting more calls 
for stronger immigration policies from the Swedish public. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
Kurdistan Air Incident-Probably Not A MANPAD Attack 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶4.  (C)  Bildt pressed Ambassadors Crocker and Ries for 
information on two alleged man-portable air defense systems 
(MANPAD) attacks on Swedish and Austrian airliners. 
Ambassador Crocker replied that the USAF had not found the 
incidents adequate reason to change its designation of KRG 
airspace, but he declined to rule out an attack because he 
said there were no Coalition surveillance or warning 
(JSTAR/AWACS) assets in the area at the time.  However, after 
listing other factors, including MANPAD range limits and the 
high quality of Kurdish security, the ambassador told Bildt 
it was unlikely the aircraft had been attacked.  Ambassador 
Ries added that press reports indicated the Swedish carrier 
had regulatory problems with the KRG Civil Aviation 
authority, and wondered if it was a coincidence that the 
flight allegedly attacked was the final one scheduled to fly 
the route.  Ambassador Trouve confirmed the carrier,s 
difficulties but thought it was unlikely they would stage the 
incident.  In an aside echoing the immigration issue, Lyrvall 
pointed out that the Erbil route had become among the most 
 
BAGHDAD 00003074  002 OF 002 
 
 
profitable for both companies. 
 
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COMMENT 
-------- 
 
¶5.  (C)  Bildt has clearly mastered the Iraq brief and 
appeared serious when he told us he wants a more robust 
Swedish presence here.  His focus on immigration and the fact 
that he did not mention the European Union at all suggests 
that domestic political imperatives drove his mission.  As 
the GOS follows up this trip (as we expect it will) with a 
KRG visit and other activities, Embassy Baghdad will continue 
to provide support.  In a final example of the Embassy,s 
substantial logistical assistance, Foreign Minister Bildt 
accepted Ambassador's Crocker and MNF-I's offer to use 
Coalition air assets to depart Baghdad after Royal Jordanian 
cancelled his flight. 
BUTENIS