Cablegate: Guidance: Unsc Consultations On Kuwaiti Property
VZCZCXYZ0005
OO RUEHWEB
DE RUEHC #9013 2950601
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 212055Z OCT 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 8258
INFO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD IMMEDIATE 9076
RUEHKU/AMEMBASSY KUWAIT IMMEDIATE 7089
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW IMMEDIATE 4711
UNCLAS STATE 109013
SENSITIVE
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (SENSITIVE CAPTION ADDED)
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL UNSC IZ
SUBJECT: GUIDANCE: UNSC CONSULTATIONS ON KUWAITI PROPERTY
AND MISSING PERSONS, OCTOBER 22
1. (U) This is an action request. USUN should draw from the
following building blocks during October 22 consultations
regarding repatriation by Iraq of missing Kuwaitis and
Kuwaiti property, including the Kuwaiti national archives.
2. (SBU) Begin building blocks:
-- I would like to begin today by thanking Ambassador Tarasov
for his detailed report regarding the repatriation or return
of all Kuwaiti and third-country nationals or their remains
and the return of all Kuwaiti property, including archives,
seized by the former Iraqi regime. These remain important
issues and, while we welcome the increased cooperation
between Kuwait and Iraq, much work remains.
-- Since the Council last met to discuss this issue, we are
heartened by the positive and continuing momentum that has
ensued, especially in locating and identifying the remains of
missing American servicemen, Captain Michael Scott Speicher,
and both Iraq and Kuwait's utilization of the Tripartite
Commission's Technical Subcommittee (TSC) as a positive
display of bilateral relations and progress.
-- We are also very encouraged by Iraq's Ministry of Human
Rights (MOHR) recent work to advance the search for missing
Kuwaitis from the 1990 Iraqi invasion; particularly, the
recent media campaign to solicit eyewitness accounts,
including the publishing in Iraqi newspapers on August 16 of
the names and photographs of the approximately 370 Kuwaitis
still missing and accompanying hotline numbers and website
addresses for contacting relevant GOI agencies; the
excavation of some 27 potential mass grave sites near Kerbala
on September 28 and the reports that excavation teams have
been putting in twelve-hour days since that date, digging to
depths of 3-4 meters in search of mortal remains; and the
continued attempts to solicit actionable information from
witnesses, particularly, those who claim to have knowledge of
three different mass grave sites containing as many as 100
bodies near Ramadi.
-- Unfortunately, no conclusive progress has been made in
finding the Kuwaiti archives and no credible information
about their whereabouts has emerged.
-- Building on these recent efforts, we urge the Iraqi
government to make a concerted push to provide whatever
information it can to bring these matters to a close and to
support the extension of the High Coordinator's mandate for a
further eight months, in accord with the
recommendation of the Secretary-General in April 2009. We
also call on the Government of Iraq
to follow up on its offer to host the next TSC in Baghdad on
November 18.
-- We look forward to Ambassador Tarasov's continued work and
believe that at the end of the High Coordinator's eight-month
mandate extension, Iraq and Kuwait will have furthered
bilateral cooperation, located and identified remains of the
missing to "end years of anguish and uncertainty for the
families," and determined the disposition of the Kuwaiti
national archives, which are the priceless cultural patrimony
of that nation. Progress on these issues is an important
step for Iraq to take to return to the legal and
international standing it enjoyed prior to the adoption of
UNSCR 661 (1990).
-- Also, in extending the High Coordinator's mandate until
June 2010, we call on all relevant parties to work together
to advance progress on this issue.
End building blocks.
CLINTON