Iraqi Charge phones Ambassador, saying he is

S E C R E T COLOMBO 000623 SIPDIS NOFORN DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT, NEA, NEA/NGA, DS/DSS/ITA; NSC FOR E. MILLARD NEW DELHI FOR POL/REGIONAL AFFAIRS LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL E.O. 12958: DECL: 04-10-13 TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS PTER ASEC CE IZ SUBJECT: Iraqi Charge phones Ambassador, saying he is calling from embassy of "liberated Iraq"; Asks to meet (U) Classified by Ambassador E. Ashley Wills. Reasons 1.5 (B,D). ¶1. (U) This message contains an Action Request. Please see Para 3. ¶2. (S/NF) The Ambassador received a phone call from Iraqi Charge Wajdi Mardan Abbas this morning (April 10). Abbas said he was calling from the "embassy of liberated Iraq" and wanted to express his deep appreciation to the U.S. for its role in Iraq. In doing this, he kept repeating "thank you, thank you, thank you." Abbas added that he wanted to come and meet the Ambassador as soon as possible in order to discuss a "letter" sent by a "friend" to the U.S. embassy. Abbas did not go into the matter further. The Ambassador was non-committal in his response. ¶3. (S/NF) ACTION REQUEST: Mission has no information about the letter mentioned by Abbas. From what we understand, Abbas is an Iraqi intelligence operative. Clearly, he is in bail out mode given the recent events in Baghdad. GSL contacts have also told us that he may have recently requested political asylum in Sri Lanka, but this is not confirmed. We also recently heard that he had let his household staff go. We would appreciate it if Washington could get back to us ASAP with instructions on how to handle Abbas and his request to meet. END ACTION REQUEST. ¶4. (U) Minimize considered. WILLS