CLARIFYING IRAQ'S ACCESSION TO CHEMICAL WEAPONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L STATE 162259

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
THE HAGUE FOR CWC DEL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2032
TAGS: IZ PARM PREL OPCW CWC
SUBJECT: CLARIFYING IRAQ'S ACCESSION TO CHEMICAL WEAPONS
CONVENTION

REF: AMMAN 004578

Classified By: NEA DAS Lawrence E. Butler for reasons
E.O. 12958 1.4 (b),(d),and (h).


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SUMMARY
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1. (C) On November 26, President Talabani's office issued a
press statement indicating that the presidential council
endorsed the Council of Representatives vote ratifying
accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Post is
requested to seek clarification of Iraq's actual position in
the ratification process, and to ensure that important
changes to GoI documents are incorporated, prior to Iraq
taking the final step of depositing its instrument of
accession, as recommended by international partners at an
Amman workshop in late October. END SUMMARY

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OBJECTIVES
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2. (C/REL IRQ) Post should ask appropriate GoI officials for
information on the following subjects:
---When does the GoI plan to submit instruments of accession
for the CWC to the UN?
---We need clarification of the press statement issued
November 26 by Ambassador Srood Najib on behalf of President
Talabani's office concerning Iraq's current status in the
accession process.
---What is the status of the draft Iraqi CWC declaration
following the Amman conference?
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REPORTING DEADLINE
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3. (U) Post is requested to report results of this discussion
as soon as possible.

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BACKGROUND
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4. (U) Numerous media outlets reported a statement on
November 26 by Ambassador Srood Najib to the effect that Iraq
had joined the CWC. Portions of the statement were quoted as
follows: "The advantage for Iraq of signing this agreement is
that the international community will assist it in getting
rid of the environmental problems caused by such weapons in
the past." This announcement appears to be premature.


5. (C) Per reftel, following the October 29-31 conference in
Amman, the GoI delegation returned to Baghdad with a lengthy
list of recommended changes to their draft CWC declaration.
In the first week of December, we anticipate final
coordination from UK experts on our technical corrections as
well as on the two most important issues concerning
classification and clarifying a point on Iraqi-produced
rockets. We recommend two sections be classified: 1) the
new annex on the contents of the Al-Muthanna chemical weapons
bunkers - of obvious interest to terrorists, and 2) a section
containing declaration forms for past receipts of CW-related
materials which could reveal historical sources for these
materials, and thus provide political fodder for Iran. U.S.
and UK experts are anxious that the report not be submitted
without these sections being properly classified. An
additional change was recommended to clarify whether any
Iraqi-produced rockets were armed with chemicals in addition
to imported rockets.

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POINTS OF CONTACT
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6. (U) Please contact ISN/CB Tom Ferguson at 202-647-9650 or
via e-mail with any questions or for any further background
information. Please also slug responses to ISN/CB and
NEA/I-PM.
RICE