VZCZCXRO4406
OO RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #3187/01 3460837
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 120837Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5695
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0934
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003187 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL IZ KU
SUBJECT: GOI AND USG FURTHER DIALOGUE ON CHAPTER VII ISSUES 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary: On December 9, Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs Senior Policy Adviser, Ambassador Fareed Yasseen, and 
MFA Policy Planner Sarhad Fatah, engaged in a 
video-conference with a six-member pre-JCC technical group at 
the Department of State in Washington and the U.S. Mission to 
the United Nations in New York.  The videoconference was also 
attended in Baghdad by a Senior Advisor at the NSC, as well 
as U.S. Embassy Baghdad's Political Counselor, Deputy 
Political Counselor, Embassy legal staff, and Poloff.  Due to 
the cancellation of the pre-JCC delegation's visit as a 
result of travel complications, the videoconference afforded 
the opportunity to engage the MFA on a variety of Chapter 
VII-related issues.  The discussion highlighted the urgency 
of a DFI extension letter, the need for the GOI to engage the 
Government of Russia to overcome resistance to an extension, 
and progress in the GOI on ratification of the Additional 
Protocol.  End summary. 
 
 
 OIL FOR FOOD AND AN EXTENSION OF DEVELOPMENT FUND FOR IRAQ 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
 ¶2.  (SBU)  Purnell Delly, Director of NEA/I, started the 
videoconference by conveying condolences to Ambassador 
Yasseen for the losses suffered during the bombings in 
central Baghdad the day before.  He proceeded to introduce 
the members of the Chapter VII technical group in Washington 
and New York, which included NEA/I Deputy Director, Lisa 
Kenna, L/AN Attorney-Advisor, Jeremy Sharpe, USUN Deputy 
Political Counselor, Ellen Germain, IO expert, Bill Haldeman, 
ISN expert, Jody Daniel.  Senior Advisor of NEA/I, Kevin 
Taecker, who also joined the videoconference, then gave an 
overview of the challenges facing the GOI's request for an 
extension of the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI).  Taecker 
stressed that an extension of the DFI is not a "foregone 
conclusion", and will require the MFA to send a letter 
requesting an extension that includes language about settling 
American claims for victims of the first Gulf War ideally as 
the payment of Oil for Food claims. 
 
 ¶3.  (SBU)  Ambassador Yasseen commented that the GOI's 
letter to the UN Security Council requesting a DFI extension 
will take USG guidance into account and that the GOI is 
considering sending a delegation to the UN to advocate for 
the extension.  He also stressed that a shorter-term DFI 
extension is not desirable, as the GOI unsuccessfully 
attempted to acquire a three-year extension in 2008, and 
would like to obtain a 12-month extension this year.  The 
Ambassador also shared that an interministerial committee at 
the deputy minister level had met the day before at the MFA 
to discuss OFF and other Chapter VII-related issues.  The 
committee discussed options regarding the payment of 
outstanding OFF claims, and concluded that an allocation of 
unencumbered funds to resolve some of the claims should be 
made this year, with a commitment of an end date to resolve 
the remaining claims.  Yasseen emphasized that claims will be 
resolved in the standard manner, including the use of bills 
and other documents. 
 
 ¶4.  (SBU)  In response to the pre-JCC group's suggestion 
that the resolution of OFF contracts and American claims is 
necessary in order to secure a DFI extension, Ambassador 
Yasseen inquired whether the outstanding claims must be 
resolved by the end of 2009 in order to secure the DFI 
extension.  USUN representative Germain responded that Russia 
is particularly resistant to the idea of an extension to the 
DFI due to its unpaid OFF claims, and Russia and other member 
states may push for a three to six month extension in lieu of 
Qstates may push for a three to six month extension in lieu of 
the one-year extension the GOI is seeking.  She stated that 
USUN strongly urges the GOI to talk with the Russians to 
ascertain what conditions they are willing to accept 
regarding the OFF claims, as the Russians have expressed that 
they want the claims paid off in their entirety.  USUN 
representative Germain said that the Russians are seeking  an 
"iron-clad" commitment that contracts will be paid off in two 
to three months, rather than a year, and that GOI engagement 
with Russia will be necessary to get some clarity on the time 
sensitivity of resolving the claims.  Ambassador Yasseen 
agreed that the GOI should engage the Russians more on this 
issue, and stated that GOI officials may seek to meet with 
Russian officials during an upcoming meeting in Manama. 
 
 
MFA ON UNAMI, ASSET FREEZE, AND CULTURAL PROTECTION 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
 ¶5.  (SBU)  IO expert Haldeman provided an overview of and 
solicited Ambassador Yasseen's thoughts on UN resolutions 
1483, 1518, and 1546, which treat UNAMI, the freeze and 
return of Saddam-era assets, and the prohibition and sale of 
cultural property, respectively.  Yasseen affirmed that 
 
BAGHDAD 00003187  002 OF 002 
 
 
UNAMI's effectiveness in resolving challenges with 
establishing Iraqi elections, disputed internal boundaries, 
and refugees issues is widely noted by the GOI.  He 
elaborated that as Iraq's security situation improves and 
conditions normalize, UNAMI should relax its rules of 
engagement, severely restricted since the 2003 explosion that 
destroyed its building and killed then SRSG Sergio Vieira de 
Mello and others. 
 
 ¶6.  (SBU)  Yasseen further commented in a more limited 
manner on resolutions 1518 and 1546 by stating that the GOI 
should activate a committee to consider the implications of 
these resolutions on the curtailment of terrorist activities 
originating in neighboring countries, but that the 
conventional arms ban is largely a Ministry of Defense issue. 
 Speaking off the cuff, he said the ban should be lifted.  He 
added that there would be GOI consensus that clauses of 
resolution 1483 pertaining to cultural property should remain 
in place. 
 
 
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION 
--------------------------- 
 
 ¶7. (SBU)  ISN's Daniel provided an overview of UNSC 687, 
dealing with Weapons of Mass Destruction.  He specified that 
while the Additional Protocol is not mentioned in the 
WMD-related UNSC resolutions, it is an important issue for 
the IAEA, and that the importance of ratifying the Additional 
Protocol cannot be overstated.  Ambassador Yasseen responded 
that ratification of the Additional Protocol is "in the 
pipeline", and has been approved by the Council of Ministers 
and is on the Council of Representatives' agenda. 
 
 ¶8. (SBU)  Daniel further outlined a second issue, the need 
for the GOI to write a letter to the UNSC outlining a 
commitment to nonproliferation and steps the GOI intends to 
take towards nonproliferation.  USUN representative Germain 
added that P5 members have expressed support for lifting WMD 
restrictions in Iraq, but that there is a lot of focus by 
Security Council members on ensuring that Iraq passes the 
Additional Protocol.  In response to a question from 
Ambassador Yasseen about whether the attitudes of the UN and 
the IAEA are similar on this issue, Germain stated that they 
are fairly consistent. 
HILL