C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 002984

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/NGA AND NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/13
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ TC
SUBJECT: UAEG SEEKS CONFIRMATION ON IRAQI MFA
FAX AUTHORIZING DISTRIBUTION OF TRAVEL
FUNDS FOR FORMER IRAQI DIPLOMATS

REF: ABU DHABI 2896


1. (U) Classified by Ambassador Marcelle M. Wahba
for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D).


2. (U) This is an action request; see para 5.


3. (C) UAE MFA Assistant U/S for Political Affairs
Abdullah Rashid Al-Nuaimi contacted the Ambassador
June 21 seeking confirmation on a fax sent to the
Iraqi "embassy" in Abu Dhabi from the MFA Steering
Committee in Baghdad. The UAEG took over control
of the Iraqi embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Iraqi
consulate in Dubai in the beginning of June and
froze all of the missions' assets. Abdullah Rashid
said embassy staff had received a fax dated June 2
from an Ambassador Ghassan Mohsen Hussein, head of
the MFA Steering Committee in Baghdad issuing
instructions for the issuance of tickets and the
distribution of travel monies to former Iraqi
diplomats and their families. Upon the
Ambassador's request, Abdullah Rashid forwarded a
copy of the fax to the Embassy. The fax requests
the following:

-- Issuance of tickets to former diplomats and
their families to travel back to Baghdad via Amman
or Damascus with the provision of a $20 travel
allowance per family member.

-- Agreement to continuing paying those staff
members covered by the 16 March memorandum (a copy
of which was also attached and which was addressed
to a former Iraqi diplomat in Dubai -- Humaid
Khaled Salman).

Abdullah Rashid told the Ambassador the UAEG was
not/not prepared to act on these matters and open
the bank accounts for issuance of travel tickets
and allowances absent confirmation from the USG
that the fax from the MFA Steering Committee is
legitimate.


4. (C) Abdullah Rashid asked the Ambassador whether
any decision had been taken on the resumption of
consular services. The local Iraqi staff at the
Embassy in Abu Dhabi have requested that they be
allowed to resume these services. They have
apparently told the Emiratis that their
counterparts in Doha and Amman have resumed these
services. Abdullah Rashid noted the difficulties
encountered by the UAEG as a result of the lack of
Iraqi consular services here. While the UAEG is
being lenient on residency issues, the inability of
Iraqis to travel overseas because their passports
have expired is a significant hardship. He related
that an Iraqi woman in dire need of sophisticated
medical attention had died in the UAE recently
because she was unable to travel abroad to receive
attention. The Ambassador said we were awaiting
guidance on the broad subject of consular services
but in the immediate term, we appreciate the UAEG's
not penalizing Iraqis with expired passports
seeking to renew their residency status.


5. (C) ACTION REQUEST: Please provide guidance on
both the matter of releasing frozen Iraqi funds for
Iraqi "diplomats" as well as on the broader issue
of the resumption of consular services. As we
noted last week (reftel), this issue continues to
simmer here and we expect telephone calls and walk-
ins to continue as long as Iraqi are unable to
obtain assistance from their embassy.


6. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.

WAHBA