KUWAIT: UN SOMA PASSED BY COMMITTEE BUT NOT BY

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001352 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP, PM FOR RUGGIERO, AND IO/UNP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ KU SUBJECT: KUWAIT: UN SOMA PASSED BY COMMITTEE BUT NOT BY FULL NATIONAL ASSEMBLY REF: USUN 796 ¶1. (U) Post has confirmed that, as of Monday April 17, the United Nations Status of Mission Agreement (SOMA) reputed to have passed in reftel has not yet been voted on in Kuwait's National Assembly (NA). The UN SOMA has been approved by the NA's Foreign Affairs Committee. Legislative action stalled following the death of the Amir and subsequent change in government. The SOMA is currently not listed as an agenda item for this NA session which ends in July. ¶2. (U) In addition, there is some confusion as to the stated number of UN staff currently in Iraq. Reftel states a total number of 250 while U.S. military contacts working side-by-side with UNAMI told POLOFF that UNAMI's administrative officer says there are one thousand staff members, both military and civilian, in Iraq at any given time. The number was supplied to Humanitarian Operations Center (HOC) officers in a request to garner further GOK support for issuing visas for entry into Kuwait. The HOC still serves as the clearinghouse for NGOs working in Iraq and one of its offices is co-located inside the UN compound. The UNAMI administrative officer used the figure in recent days to request continued access to the HOC's expedited visa issuing process. Post raises this staffing differential (250/1000) to ensure that any decisions being made about UNAMI are done with the most accurate information and numbers available. ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * LEBARON