IRAQ MISCELLANY

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 006968 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2014 TAGS: PREL CVIS CPAS KFRD IZ JO SUBJECT: IRAQ MISCELLANY REF: A. AMMAN 6437 ¶B. BAGHDAD 424 ¶C. STATE 168782 Classified By: CDA David Hale for reasons 1.5 (b),(d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Iraq named a new Ambassador to Jordan, Ata Abdul Wahab. Recent guidance from the Iraqi MFA on visa procedures appears to have cleared up some of the Amman Embassy,s confusion on this issue. Separately, a former Iraqi minister criticized PM Allawi,s performance. End Summary. -------------- NEW IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO JORDAN NAMED -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Iraqi Charge in Amman Ma'an Barakat confirmed to PolOff that Ata Abdul Wahab would be the new Iraqi Ambassador to Amman, pending GOJ agrement (Ref A.) During a meeting with PolOff, Barakat and visiting Iraqi MFA Consular chief Salah Abdel Salam said that Barakat would likely leave Amman when Abdul Wahab arrived. -------------- -------------- IRAQI VISA PROCEDURES; CENSUS OF IRAQIS LIVING ABROAD -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Salam conveyed Baghdad,s latest guidance on Iraqi visa procedures in terms consistent with ref B, and urged U.S. recognition of the Iraqi S-series passport, which the USG at present does not recognize (Ref C.) (Note: As of August 11, the Iraqi mission in Amman had issued 146 visas and 462 S-series passports.) Salam said he planned to visit Syria and Lebanon before heading back to Baghdad at the end of the week. He also planned to "brainstorm" with Iraqi embassy officials the establishment of a commission to conduct a census of Iraqis living abroad. -------------- ALLAWI'S PERFORMANCE, HANDLING AL-SADR -------------- ¶4. (C) One of our Iraqi contacts resident in Jordan, former Iraqi Minister for Oil Issam Chalabi (no relation to INC leader Ahmad Chalabi),criticized Allawi for spending "so much time outside Iraq while the IIG was so young." He said that Allawi's absence contributed to the current problems in Najaf, and that Allawi should exert greater efforts to bring Shi'ite upstart Moqtada Al-Sadr into the political process. Other Iraqi businessmen in Amman said they supported Allawi's efforts and asserted that the IIG should clamp down on Al-Sadr. ¶5. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. Visit Embassy Amman's classified website at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ or access the site through the State Department's SIPRNET home page. HALE