REVISED TUNISIA SOFA NOTE

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 000142 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/MAG - HOPKINS, HARRIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/30/2017 TAGS: PREL MOPS MARR TS SUBJECT: REVISED TUNISIA SOFA NOTE REF: STATE 6802 Classified By: AMBASSADOR ROBERT F. GODEC FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) AND (d) ¶1. (C) On January 23, Ambassador discussed reftel's revised Status of Forces Agreement text with MFA Chief of Staff Hatem Atallah. Atallah, who led the bilateral interagency SOFA discussions in 2005 as MFA Director General for Asia and the Americas, said that he did not know who would be coordinating the GOT review of the revisions. He asked Ambassador to forward the revised text under cover of diplomatic note. Post delivered the requested diplomatic note and the revised text to the MFA on January 23. ¶2. (C) On January 24, POLOFF followed up with MFA Deputy Director for North America Moez Sinaoui. Sinaoui said that the note and revised text had been circulated to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of National Defense. Sinaoui said he could not predict how long it would take for a GOT response on next steps. However, he would inquire with the Minister's Office and share further details when available. ¶3. (C) On January 26, MFA Secretary of State for Asia and the Americas Saida Chtioui told Ambassador that the GOT would need additional time to translate the revised text and review the changes. Chtioui suggested that the GOT would not be prepared to receive a USG delegation to discuss the SOFA until late February or early March. ¶4. (U) Post will continue to follow up on this issue with appropriate GOT officials to schedule an interagency bilateral discussion on the revised text. GODEC