GUARDED OPTIMISM FOR NEW IRAQI GOVERNMENT BY

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAR ES SALAAM 000977 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT AF/E FOR B YODER, ALSO FOR IO E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/28/2016 TAGS: KDEM KPAO PREL PGOV IZ TZ SUBJECT: GUARDED OPTIMISM FOR NEW IRAQI GOVERNMENT BY TANZANIA REF: STATE 081632 Classified By: Political Officer Maureen B. Latour for reasons 1.4(b) a nd (d). ¶1. (C) On May 25, Poloff had pressed Ambassador Liberata Mulamula, Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Multilateral Division, for a public statement applauding formation of the new Iraqi government (reftel). Mulamula said that while the Government of Tanzania (GOT) was encouraged by the emerging political situation in Iraq and developments regarding the cabinet, nonetheless, the GOT maintained a "guarded optimism" and considered it "very premature" to make a public statement congratulating the Iraqi government because the situation continued to change. ¶2. (C) Not content with this response, PolCouns called on Mulamula in a separate meeting on June 13 to again press for a public statement of support. Ambassador Mulamula recognized that further progress had been made with the naming of the Ministers of Defense and Interior to the Iraqi cabinet on June 8. Mulamula noted that the GOT usually does not make formal statements unless the GOT was involved in the process either of negotiations, the formation of a new government etc.-- which is not the case for Tanzania regarding Iraq. Nonetheless, Ambassador Mulamula indicated that senior GOT officials would look for opportunities to congratulate the people of Iraq on their progress toward democratization in appropriate fora, such as the United Nations. DELLY