POST REQUESTS GUIDANCE ON SABAWI EXTRADITION

S E C R E T BAGHDAD 004402 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2015 TAGS: IZ KJUS PREL PTER YM SUBJECT: POST REQUESTS GUIDANCE ON SABAWI EXTRADITION REF: A. SECSTATE 174132 ¶B. SANAA 3046 Classified By: Classified by David C. Litt, Political- Military Affairs Counselor, for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (S) In Ref A, the Department requested that Post "contact appropriate ITG officials to urge them to request Sabawi's extradition from Yemen to execute their arrest warrant and to refer his case to the CCCI for appropriate judicial action". ¶2. (S) However, in Ref B, Embassy Sanaa notes that it suspects "that the ROYG is not averse to Sabawi's eventual extradition to Iraq, and will provide (the Embassy) information useful for facilitating his detention in another country, but Yemeni officials have made it clear that they will not permit his apprehension in Yemeni territory". ¶3. (S) In light of this assessment, Post requests guidance as to whether we should continue to press the ITG to seek Mr. Sabawi's extradition from Yemen. Post continues to work with the ITG to clarify (and to some extent establish) Iraqi extradition procedures, but given limited Iraqi capacity in this area, we would like to focus our efforts (and encourage the Iraqis to focus their efforts) on cases likely to bear fruit. Satterfield