CANADA ON RECALL OF IRAQI COM

-------------- header ends -------------- S E C R E T OTTAWA 001461 SIPDIS DEPT. FOR NEA/NGA E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2013 TAGS: PREL CA IZ SUBJECT: CANADA ON RECALL OF IRAQI COM REF: STATE 126507 Classified By: POLMIN COUNSELOR BRIAN FLORA. REASON 1.5 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (S) In response to reftel demarche, DFAIT Middle East Division Deputy Director Graeme McIntyre affirmed that the GOC had taken a decision to facilitate the return to Baghdad of Iraqi Charge d'Affaires Mamdouh S. MUSTAFA, the sole Iraqi diplomat remaining in Canada. POL/Liaison sources at post advise that CSIS (Canadian intelligence) was unaware of the GOC/DFAIT decision to facilitate Mustafa's departure from Canada. ¶2. (C) According to McIntyre, Mustafa was accredited to Canada in 2000/01 as a full Charge d'Affaires -- as opposed to "ad interim"-- after his predecessor, Mohammad H. Al-Saffar, failed to resume his post. Though he could not give us a timeline for Mustafa's departure, McIntyre said it would help the GOC if Mustafa were included in the worldwide list of former regime officials posted abroad whose departure USG previously had encouraged to different host governments. ¶3. (C) McIntyre said the GOC is particularly sensitive to the possibility of negative press coverage about Mustafa's departure (and, probably, the likelihood that left-leaning opposition MPs will attack the government decision as a "rights" violation etc.). Poloff noted that if Mustafa was accredited to Canada as a full charge, then it would appear that he fell into the category of "head of mission" and is thus covered by the instruction from the Iraqi MFA. CELLUCCI =======================CABLE ENDS============================