TUWAITHA NUCLEAR MATERIALS SITREP

S E C R E T BAGHDAD 004227

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA/I: RSCHMIERER
NEA/I-PM:TBETTS
ISN/RA:KKESSLER
S/I:KNUTT
L/NPV:THISCH
DOE: JSELLEN
JS:SNORWOOOD
OSD: TBENNET

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2017
TAGS: ECON PARM PREL IZ
SUBJECT: TUWAITHA NUCLEAR MATERIALS SITREP

REF: A. A) STATE 163968

B. B) BAGHDAD 4126

C. C) STATE 169324

D. D) BAGHDAD 2454

E. E) BAGHDAD 1787

F. F) BAGHDAD 734

Classified By: Ambassador Charles Ries, Economic Minister, for Reasons
1.4 (B),(D) and (H)


1. (S) Summary: Ambassador Ries met with Iraqi Minister of
Science and Technology (MOST) Raid Jahid (FAHMI) on the
evening of 30 December to discuss next steps on Tuwaitha.
Ries requested the Minister's assistance to accomplish four
key steps necessary to complete the proposed work at
Tuwaitha: 1) access for the US Technical Team on site to
Building #4 on 31 December in order to re-pack four
irradiation sources; 2) providing a letter from the Prime
Minister to the USG granting the US authority to the US to
remove the irradiation sources from Iraq; 3) providing a
letter from the GOI to the IAEA notifying the Agency that the
seals on the doors to the storage area for the uranium yellow
cake would be broken to allow repacking of the uranium for
sale; 4) designation of an Iraqi representative empowered to
negotiate sale of the uranium yellow cake to an international
buyer. Fahmi immediately agreed to take the steps necessary
to allow the US team access to the building housing the
irradiators and to prepare them for shipment by 10 AM on 31
Dec. Fahmi was true to his word. The Iraqi site commander
told our Team Leader he had received a "High-level call" and
he allowed the US team access as requested on 31 Dec.
Regarding the letter authorizing removal of the irradiators
and yellow cake from Iraq and designation of an Iraqi
negotiator, Fahmi supports both actions but deferred them to
the Prime Minister. He agreed to rush a letter to the IAEA
and stated his Ministry could prepare and sign the letter for
transmission through the MFA to the IAEA. However, focusing
on Iraq's responsibility for the material, he asked that
appropriate experts receive a briefing from US experts before
the letter is sent. Ries agreed and the briefing to experts
is currently scheduled to occur on-site on 2 January.

Ries-Fahmi Meeting


2. (S) The meeting was scheduled on short notice and took
place in the Minister's apartment in the Al Rasheed Hotel.
He was without supporting staff and the meeting was conducted
in English. Ries made the point that the US had a team of
ninety people on the ground ready to carry out the work at
Tuwaitha -- packaging for transport and removing the four
irradiation sources and the 550 metric tons of uranium yellow
cake -- that Iraq had requested the US support. Noting that
all the logistics pieces were in place, Ries asked for the
Minister's immediate support to get the necessary political
permissions to gain access to the irradiation sources, notify
the IAEA that the seals would be broken to allow repacking
the yellow cake, authorize the USG to remove the irradiators
by 10 Jan and to designate a negotiator for the sale of the
yellow cake. Ries stressed that the US intent is to partner
with Iraq in each phase of the operation, including working
together to sell the yellow cake for the best value possible,
recognizing there must be some cost sharing.


3. (S) Fahmi agreed that Iraq needed to have the material
removed and voiced his support for getting the work
completed. He stated that access to the building was within
his power to grant and immediately agreed to make the
necessary calls to allow the US Team access to Building 4 at
Tuwaitha, stating he would make the calls this evening. We
agreed that the US Team would meet with the Iraqi site
authorities at 10 AM 31 Dec. However, he could not grant the
US authority to remove the irradiators, though he understood
the tight timeline for airlift. Only the Prime Minister could
grant authority for removal. As to designation of an Iraqi
to negotiate the sale of the yellow cake, this was also an
issue for the Prime Minister and the cabinet.

4.(S) Regarding the letter to the IAEA, Fahmi stressed that
it Iraq is responsible for both the irradiators and the
yellow cake. It is within his power to draft and sign out a
letter to the IAEA which would then be forwarded through the
MFA to Vienna. However, he asked that his specialists receive
a briefing at the site on 31 Dec on the "process" for both
the irradiators and the yellow cake. He noted that the
responsible official in the GOI for these materials is
Mohammed Jawad "AL SHARA", Director General, National
Monitoring Directorate, and asked that Shara receive the
briefing. The Minister noted in particular that the action
taken with the seals on the doors to the storage facility
housing the yellow cake was of particular interest -- who
would be responsible, the US or Iraq. Ries agreed that Iraq
did own the materials and that the US Team would provide the
necessary briefing so that the Minister felt comfortable with
the actions the US would take. Once the briefing is
provided, the Minister stated he would work to move the
letter forward immediately ("tomorrow").


5. (S) Fahmi asked that Iraqi experts be allowed to observe
the packaging of both the irradiators and the yellow cake. He
linked the observation to the "responsibility" Iraq has for
the materials. Ries agreed in principle to the request with
the details to be worked out with the US Team on-site.


Results/Next Steps


5. The US Team Leader (Alex Riedy) and several key staff
arrived at the Administration Building at 10 AM as scheduled
and were met by the Iraqi Site Commander, Col "Ra'ad" in full
uniform and a Ministry of Science Representative Dr. Ali
Hassan "AZZIZ). After formalities, Ra'ad stated he was
contacted by MOST last night and directed to provide full
cooperation for the visit. At Dr. Azziz's request, Alex
outlined the general plans for removal of the irradiators and
for the yellow cake. Subsequently, Riedy and other team
members toured inside and out building #4 accompanied by Col
Ra'ad and Dr. Azziz. Riedy reports "the visit went very well
and overall cooperation was good."


6. The briefing to Shara and other Iraqi technical experts
did not take place today. Shara was unable to travel to the
site. He requested that the US Team Leader visit the
Ministry on short notice to provide him a briefing. Given
the security constraints, it was not possible to send either
Embassy representatives or Riedy to the Ministry today. The
current plan as agreed with Shara is for three Iraqi
technical experts to visit the site on 2 Jan to receive a
briefing from Riedy. The Energy Attach (Parks) and Senior
NNSA Representative (Boudreau) will meet with Shara in his
office on 2 Jan to discuss the IAEA letter.

Attendees

GOI

Minister of Science and Technology
Raid Jahid "FAHMI"

US
Minister for Economic Affairs
Charles Ries

Energy Attach
Edgar Parks

Senior NNSA Representative
Robert Boudreau

CROCKER