GOI OPEN TO MAKHMOUR TRIPARTITE

S E C R E T BAGHDAD 002692 SIPDIS SIPDIS WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC; GENEVA FOR RMA E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/27/2016 TAGS: PREF PREL PTER TU IZ SUBJECT: GOI OPEN TO MAKHMOUR TRIPARTITE REF: A. NEA/I CLASSIFIED O/I DATED JULY 18 ¶B. BAGHDAD 2628 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Margaret Scobey for Reasons 1.4 (b) an d (d). ¶1. (S) Per Department's instructions (ref A),on July 27, Acting PolCouns and RefCoord called on the Minister of Displacement and Migration (MODM) and the MFA Undersecretary - Multilateral Affairs to engage them on moving forward on resolving Makhmour through the GOT-GOI-UNHCR tripartite agreement and the UNHCR Operations Plan for Makhmour. ¶2. (S) MODM Minister Abdel-Samad Rahman Sultan expressed a desire for MODM to take the lead on Makhmour. Sultan was guardedly positive about the prospects that Iraq would sign, saying that he had read the tripartite and thought it was a good idea, but that he needed to seek the approval of the Kurds and the Council of Ministers before he could commit to signing. Emboffs encouraged him to work closely with MFA Legal staff on the tripartite. ¶3. (S) MFA Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs Dr. Mohammad Hamoud Bidan was very familiar with the agreement. He immediately summoned the Director of MFA's Legal Department, who has been working on this issue for the past ten years, to join the meeting. Bidan stated that the MFA was open to moving forward on the tripartite and ready to cooperate with UNHCR. He asked for a text of the tripartite that the MFA could read and discuss and proposed a follow-on meeting on August 3 to meet with the US, other GOI elements including MODM, and ideally UNHCR. ¶4. (SBU) Emboffs provided their GOI interlocutors with copies of the UNHCR letter to President Talabani on Makhmour (English only),the UNHCR operations plan (Arabic and English),and the draft Tripartite agreement (English only). The GOI representatives requested Arabic translations of the letter and the tripartite; RefCoord undertook to follow up on this with UNHCR. Emboffs will also urge UNHCR and UNAMI to send a representative to the August 3 meeting. SCOBEY