IRISH RESPONSE ON LIBYA ARMS EMBARGO DEMARCHE

C O N F I D E N T I A L DUBLIN 001450 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/29/2014 TAGS: PARM PREL PGOV EUN SUBJECT: IRISH RESPONSE ON LIBYA ARMS EMBARGO DEMARCHE REF: STATE 207640 Classified By: Political-Economic Counselor Mary Daly, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. On September 28, Post delivered reftel talking points to Paul Gunning, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) First Secretary for the Middle East. Gunning said that the EU SIPDIS decision to lift completely its 1986 arms embargo against Libya was a "done deal" that could not be reversed before the October 11 GAERC meeting. He noted that Ireland was not enthusiastic about the decision, but would not be in a position to block the UK, Italy, and Spain in their push to lift the embargo. He remarked that the GOI continued to have serious concerns about delays in resolving the Bulgarian medics issue, and he expressed disappointment that Member States did not consider timing the lifting of the ban to leverage better behavior from Libya. He added that the U.S. proposal to lift the ban partially was not workable, since the ban was structured in such a way that it could only be lifted in full or not at all. KENNY