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DE RUEHSM #1316/01 2991436
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O 261436Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2850
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE
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RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 STOCKHOLM 001316 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/23/2017 
TAGS: PREL EUN PGOV IZ BS SR SW
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S OCTOBER 22 MEETING WITH FM BILDT RE 
IRAQ 
 
REF: A. STATE 140269 
     ¶B. STOCKHOLM 1284 
     ¶C. CAGAN/SILVERMAN OCT. 18 TELCON 
     ¶D. BUTLER/SILVERMAN OCT. 19 EMAIL 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Wood, reason 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
¶1.  (c) Ambassador met October 22 with Foreign Minister Carl 
Bildt, reviewing the roles of Sweden and the EU in Iraq, 
Bildt's November 12-14 trip to the U.S.: 
 
Iraq: 
 
-- Bildt welcomed a Nov. 1 post-Bahrain MNF-I conference 
back-brief by NEA DAS Butler and DOD DAS Cagan. 
 
-- Sweden supports efforts to beef up the roles of the EU and 
the UN in Iraq, and hopes for specific conclusions for the 
November GAERC based on a joint Sweden/France/UK initiative 
in the EU. 
 
-- Sweden has strong connections to Kurdish Northern Iraq; 
Sweden provides assistance now through NGOs and has been 
asked by Iraqi FM Zebari to put its flag on an assistance 
program. 
 
Bildt to U.S. November 12-14: 
 
-- Bildt has a meeting with the Secretary November 13 and 
seeks meetings with Defense Secretary Gates and NSA Hadley. 
 
Bosnia: 
 
-- Bildt said that the instability in Kosovo is affecting 
Bosnia and Macedonia, with Bosnia looking "distinctly 
fragile." 
 
End Summary. 
 
Sweden and Iraq 
--------------- 
¶2.  (c) During an October 22 meeting largely focused on 
Iraq-related issues, Foreign Minister Bildt confirmed to the 
Ambassador that while Sweden would not attend the MNF-I Oct. 
29-31 Conference in Bahrain (refs A and B), it would welcome 
our offer of a November 1 post-conference brief by State NEA 
DAS Larry Butler and DOD DAS Debra Cagan (refs C and D). 
Because Bildt will be out of the country in Tbilisi and Kyiv 
on November 1, he has arranged for Butler and Cagan to meet 
with MFA Deputy FM Frank Belfrage and a group of other 
Swedish officials. 
 
¶3. (c) Bildt was very interested to learn that the Bahrain 
meeting agenda included a discussion of the UN mission to 
Iraq.  Bildt said he had met with UNSR Stefan di Mistura in 
New York on the margins of the UNGA and had offered him 
personnel to support his physical operation, including 
security, but had not yet heard back. 
 
¶4. (c) Bildt said he would like to beef up both EU and UN 
roles in Iraq.  Bildt referred to the Sweden/UK/France joint 
paper that had served as a basis for EU discussion and 
provided us a copy (faxed to NEA-Butler, NSC-Germano, and 
EUR/NB-McDowell).  The EU's mood on Iraq, Bildt said, had 
gone from "tentative" prior to the August-September visits of 
FMs Kouchner and Bildt to more receptive: "what can we do?" 
The European Commission had also presented a paper on Iraq. 
Sweden and the UK believe there is a need for a concrete, 
specific Iraq conclusions at the November GAERC.  Bildt seeks 
to have the EU take a more active role in diplomacy focused 
on Iraq's neighbors -- Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia -- who 
see Mesopotamia as a battleground. 
 
¶5.  (c) Bildt said attention must also be given to Turkish 
concerns about the PKK in Northern Iraq.  It was important to 
avoid an explosion in the North.  Sweden hosted a large 
number of Kurds (note: the largest component of Sweden's 
estimated 100,000 Iraqis), and many of them, after having 
become Swedish citizens, have returned to Iraq.  Swedish was 
now, Bildt said, commonly heard in Northern Iraq.  Sweden is 
seeking a repatriation agreement with Iraq to facilitate 
return; its Ambassador was in Baghdad Oct. 22 pursuing this. 
Bildt said "you will see an increased Swedish presence in 
Northern Iraq, be it political, commercial, aid development, 
or all of the above." 
 
¶6.  (c) MFA Near East and North Africa Director Peter Tejler 
 
STOCKHOLM 00001316  002 OF 002 
 
 
added that Sweden was working through NGOs on enlarging 
airports and other projects as well as with expatriate-owned 
(Kurdish-Swede) companies. 
 
¶7.  (c) Bildt said that when he was in Baghdad September 1-2, 
Iraqi FM Hoshyar Zebari suggested that Sweden put its flag on 
an assistance project, rather than providing partial 
financing and running it through an NGO.  (Comment:  We 
suggest that Butler/Cagan come to Stockholm with a specific 
proposal to raise with the Swedes; something aid-related and 
in Northern Iraq is likely to be easiest for them to do.  End 
Comment.) 
 
 
Bildt to U.S. November 12-14 
---------------------------- 
¶8.  (c) Bildt said during his November 12-14 visit, he hoped 
to meet with Secretary Rice (we understand this is confirmed 
for November 13), Secretary of Defense Gates, and National 
Security Adviser Hadley. 
 
Kosovo and Neighbors 
-------------------- 
¶9.  (c) Bildt said that the instability in Kosovo is 
affecting Bosnia and Macedonia.  Bosnia, he said, looks 
"distinctly fragile" at the moment.  Bildt had spoken with 
COE SYG Terry Davis a few days earlier; Davis said there was 
some doubt November 17 elections would take place.  Bildt 
said the current state in Kosovo "cannot go on." 
WOOD