29TH MEETING OF THE TRIPARTITE COMMISSION AND THE

UNCLAS KUWAIT 004536 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR NEA/ARP AND PRM; OSD FOR ASD/DPMO CRONAUER; LONDON FOR TSOU; PARIS FOR WALLER SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM AORC MARR IZ SA KU KUWAIT-IRAQ RELATIONS SUBJECT: 29TH MEETING OF THE TRIPARTITE COMMISSION AND THE 52ND TECHNICAL SUBCOMMITTEE SESSION: 12 CASES CLOSED ¶1. Summary. The 29th Meeting of the Tripartite Commission on Gulf War Missing met in Geneva on November 15, 2006. The Commission announced the closure of 12 cases. The Commission agreed on a plan of action to address the inability of the Commission's Technical Subcommittee to conduct any field missions to burial sites in Iraq during the past year. The plan would have security for the missions organized and provided by the Government of Iraq and Iraqi security forces. The possibility of assistance from Multi-National Force Iraq (MNF-I) was discussed subject to MNF-I resources being necessary and available for the mission. Satellite and/or high altitude imagery and imagery analysis expertise were requested from member states to assist with locating burial sites in Iraq and Kuwait. End summary. ¶2. The 29th Tripartite Commission (TC) on Gulf War Missing meeting was convened by the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva on November 15, 2006. Delegations from Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America met to review progress on locating, identifying and repatriating missing victims of the 1990-91 Gulf War. The Commission announced the closure of 12 cases of previously unidentified human remains, 3 Kuwaiti and 9 Iraqi. Exhumation of Grave Sites in Iraq -------------- ¶3. Kuwait reported that no assessment or exhumation missions had taken place in Iraq since the 28th TC meeting. Kuwait remained convinced that the Kerbala III site contains Kuwaiti human remains, but more precise information is required to locate the burial sites. ¶4. Iraq stated that it had received information about possible Kuwaiti human remains at the Tel Al-Laham site, but no site assessment was made yet. Kuwait stated it had information about a site in Nasseriya which might correspond to the Tel Al-Laham site but the exact location remains to be established. The Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights reported it is coordinating with Iraqi witnesses who have information about burial sites in Iraq and Kuwait, specifically in Ramadi and on the Baghdad International Airport road. Plan of Action -------------- ¶5. In recognition that assessments and exhumations of new and known burial sites in Iraq have come to a standstill, the TC agreed on a plan of action to find solutions that would allow TC activities to move forward in Iraq. The plan contains two elements, security assistance to field missions, and provision of satellite/high altitude imagery by TC members. ¶6. The key components of the security assistance plan are: (1) Kuwait and Iraq will prepare a list of sites where exhumations will occur; (2) Iraq will organize security protection for these field missions which will be provided by Iraqi Security Forces; (3) Security assistance from the 'Multi-National Force Iraq' may be requested, "if required and if possible"; (4) Kuwait will provide the technical team to conduct the field missions. ¶7. The requested satellite/high altitude imagery assistance consists of TC members providing available imagery of known and suspected burial sites and providing experts to help with interpretation of the images. Both the United Kingdom and the United States cautioned that there may be restrictions on the availability and sharing of the requested imagery, but promised best efforts to be helpful. ¶8. To move assessments and exhumations forward in Kuwait, Iraq will encourage witnesses in Iraq to travel to Kuwait to assist in field missions. ¶9. Kuwait reported that it is continuing its identification activities on approximately 100 human remains exhumed from Samawa, Kerbala, Ramadi, Amarah, Habbanieh and Kuwait. ¶10. The United States delegation affirmed its continuing commitment to determine the fate of Navy Captain Michael Scott Speicher. ¶11. The 30th Tripartite Commission Meeting was set for November 14, 2007 in Kuwait, preceded by bilateral meetings between members and the chair on November 13. ¶12. The Commission Meeting was attended by: Iraq -------------- Dr. Ahmad M. Baker, Head of delegation Mr. Kazem M. Kazem Mr. Yaqoob K. Haider Kuwait -------------- Dr. Ibrahim M. Al-Shaheen, Head of delegation Mr. Rabea S. Al-Adsani Dr. Sultan Al-Khalaf Mr. Fozan Al-Fozan Dr. Mohammad S. Al-Hadad Mr. Sadiq Marafi Saudi Arabia -------------- Prince Turki Bin Mohammad Bin Saud Al-Kabir, Head of delegation M.G. Ibrahim M. Al-Amro M.G. Abdelrahman M. Sherif Mr. Jamal H. Akeel Mr. Zoheir M. Al-Idrissi Mr. Abdallah Al-Sheih B.G. Ahmad M. Omar Mr. Khaled S. Al-Torairi Mr. Fahad J. Al-Juraid France -------------- Ambassador Corinne Breuze, Head of delegation United Kingdom -------------- Ambassador Stuart Laing, Head of delegation Ms. Helen Upton United States of America -------------- Ambassador Richard LeBaron, Head of delegation Mr. Adrian Cronauer Mr. Donald Blome International Committee of the Red Cross -------------- Mr. Balthasar Staehelin, Chairman of the Tripartite Commission, Delegate-General for the Middle East and Africa Mr. Jean-Michel Monod, Chairman of the Technical Subcommittee Mr. Georges Comninos, Head of Operations for Middle East and North Africa Mr. Pierre-Anddre Junod, Deputy Head of Operations for Middle East and North Africa Mr. Eric Marclay, Deputy Head of Operations for Middle East and North Africa Mr. Karl Anton Mattli, Head of Delegation ICRC Iraq Mr. Micha Wedekind, Delegate for 'Missing' files for Iraq ********************************************* * 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