HONDURAS WILL NOT ISSUE STATEMENT ON IRAQ

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 002731 SIPDIS DEPT. FOR WHA/CEN, NEA/NGA, AND IO E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/27/12 TAGS: PREL IZ HO UNSC SUBJECT: HONDURAS WILL NOT ISSUE STATEMENT ON IRAQ REF: A. TEGUCIGALPA 2608 ¶B. STATE 175469 Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR FRANSISCO PALMIERI; REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D). MFA Director General of Foreign Policy Mario Fortin told PolOffs September 25 that contrary to earlier indications from the GOH (ref A),Honduras will not issue a statement at this time supporting the USG position on Iraq. Fortin said that the MFA believes that the USG needs to work harder on gaining multilateral support at the United Nations. It appears that without UNSC or Rio Group consensus the MFA is not yet willing to issue a public GOH statement backing U.S. policy on Iraq. PIERCE