DEMARCHE DELIVERED: IRANIAN PRESIDENT'S

UNCLAS KINGSTON 002509

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR (BENT)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM IR JM
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: IRANIAN PRESIDENT'S
INCREASING EXTREMSIM

REF: STATE 199225

This message is Sensitive but Unclassified (SBU). Please
handle accordingly.


1. (U) On November 4, Polcouns contacted MFA Bilateral
Affairs Department Director Courtenay Rattray to convey
reftel points, and to ask whether the GOJ had publicly
rejected Iranian President Ahamdi-Nejad's disturbing
comments.


2. (U) Rattray replied that the GOJ shared the sentiment
behind the UN Security Council's expressed condemnation of
the remarks, adding that he was unaware of any public
statement on the matter by any Jamaican official. He agreed
to check further as to whether any GOJ reply had been made.


3. (SBU) Comment: The lack of any public GOJ expression of
condemnation of the Iranian remarks is hardly surprising,
particularly in view of Prime Minister P.J. Patterson's
reluctance to antagonize publicly those states or leaders
that tend to be sympathetic to Patterson's G-77 stewardship.
Department may wish to keep this tendency in mind the next
time Patterson or another senior GOJ official rushes to
express "principled opposition" to a U.S. statement or deed,
as they are rarely shy about doing in response to USG actions
with which they disagree.
TIGHE