URGENT NEED FOR RESPONSE FROM DEPARTMENT ON IRAQ

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 000387 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS FOR A/S FRIED FROM AMB TOM KOROLOGOS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2011 TAGS: PREL IZ BE SUBJECT: URGENT NEED FOR RESPONSE FROM DEPARTMENT ON IRAQ QUERY REF: A. BRUSSELS 329 AND B. 06 BRUSSELS 4193 Classified By: Ambassador Tom C Korologos, Reason 1.4 (B) ¶1. (C) I would really appreciate it if you could take a look at the two reftels. Both concern a Belgian being held in Iraq who reportedly is awaiting sentencing, but who, again reportedly, remains under USG custody. The Belgians have been seeking our help in arranging his release. We have succeeded in getting the Belgians to talk directly to the Iraqi Ambassador here and in Amman about this case, and I have flagged the matter for Zal in Baghdad also. Ref B asks what we should tell the lawyers for the individual's family who wrote us, and ref A is our request to Baghdad for the Embassy's help in identifying who in the Iraqi government the Belgians can meet with in Baghdad. ¶2. (C) All the foregoing is preface to the reason for this cable. We need your help in shaking an answer out of the U.S. bureaucracy to the questions posed in the reftels. Our inability to give us something to say back to the Belgians has become an embarrassment, not least because it is a major issue for our contacts at the MFA and in their security services. ¶3. (C) Getting an answer sooner rather than later will help us head off a possible PR issue. While this case is becoming known to an increasing number of people in Belgium, it so far has not hit the media. I cannot guarantee that the Belgian prisoner's lawyer will continue to play nice in the days ahead if we decline to answer his letter. Please let us know as soon as you can if you have been able to get the machine moving. Regards. Korologos .