VZCZCXYZ0006
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0102 0361717
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051717Z FEB 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 3659

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000102 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR IO/UNP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OFDP OIC UN
SUBJECT: OIC OBSERVER MISSION REQUESTS DIPLOMATIC 
PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES 
 
 
¶1. USUN has received a diplomatic note dated January 22, 2008 
from the Permanent Observer Mission of the Organization of 
the Islamic Conference requesting diplomatic recognition for 
the Mission.  The request is made pursuant to the final 
communiqu of the annual coordination meeting of OIC Foreign 
Ministers in October 2007.  Text of the diplomatic note 
appears in paragraph 2 below; the relevant paragraph of the 
communiqu appears in paragraph 3. The request does not 
specify whether the OIC is requesting diplomatic status for 
the observer office alone, or whether it is also seeking 
diplomatic status for the individual members.  At present, 
the office has no privileges and immunities whatsoever, and 
as its members are in New York on B-1 visas, USUN requests 
the Citizenship and Immigration Service extend their official 
stays every six months.  Department is requested to provide 
USUN with instructions for a reply. 
 
¶2.  Begin text of diplomatic note: (complimentary 
salutation... and has the honor to enclose a copy of document 
A/62/507 - S/2007/636 containing the Final Communiqu of the 
Annual Coordination Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs 
of the Member States of the OIC, held at the UN Headquarters 
in New York on 2 October 2007, circulated as an official 
document of the General Assembly and the Security Council. 
Kind attention is invited to Article 146 of the document 
which deals with the issue of diplomatic status for the 
Permanent Observer Mission of the OIC to the United Nations 
in New York. 
The document is being forwarded to the esteemed Mission of 
the United States to the United Nations for initiating action 
on this issue.  It is also requested that this may kindly be 
brought to the attention of HE Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. 
(Complimentary close)  End text. 
 
¶3.  Begin text of Article 146 of the OIC Communiqu:  The 
Meeting noted with deep concern the continued difficulties 
faced by the Permanent Observer Mission of the Organization 
of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to the UN in New York due to 
the absence of diplomatic status of the Mission.  Recognizing 
the central role of the Permanent Observer Mission to the 
United Nations in New York, the Meeting urged the government 
of the United States of America, as the host country, to 
extend full diplomatic status to the Mission.  The Meeting 
called for the establishment of Ambassadorial Level Committee 
in New York comprising the Troikas of the OIC Summit and the 
Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers to pursue this issue 
with the Government of the United States.  End text. 
KHALILZAD