PRESIDENT SAYS DECISION TO BE MADE "SOON" ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L ULAANBAATAR 000325 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM DOD FOR D. CAGAN NSC FOR D. WILDER E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2017 TAGS: MARR PREL MG IZ PL SUBJECT: PRESIDENT SAYS DECISION TO BE MADE "SOON" ON MONGOLIA'S 8TH ROTATION TO IRAQ REF: A. SECDEF 051855Z JUN 07 ¶B. ULAANBAATAR 275 Classified By: Ambassador Mark C. Minton, for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D) ¶1. (C) During a June 6 one-hour call on President Enkhbayar, the Ambassador noted that there had been great satisfaction during his recent consultations in Washington on the state of bilateral security cooperation. In particular, at the National Security Council, at the State Department, and at the Department of Defense, there had been particular appreciation for Mongolia's contribution to Coalition operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was also true in Congress. The Ambassador noted SecDef's June 3 meeting with Mongolian Defense Minister Sonompil in Singapore (ref a),and underlined that there is great interest in Washington in Mongolia's formal approval of the 8th rotation of troops to Iraq. ¶2. (C) The President responded that Mongolia would definitely consider and make a decision on the 8th rotation quite soon, in view of the July 1 end date for the 7th rotation. As a member of the Coalition, he said, it is important to Mongolia for there to be a good result in Iraq. Despite all the difficulties, he continued, he thought that there would be such a result. ¶3. (C) During a June 4 meeting between E/P chief and presidential Foreign Policy Advisor Tsogtbaatar, that official reiterated the point that he had made last month (ref b): bringing up the 8th rotation during the Ambassador's post-Washington consultations set of meetings with senior Mongolian officials would be helpful to President Enkhbayar in the internal Mongolian politics of the 8Qrotation. Tsogtbaatar said that such mentions would bring the issue to SIPDIS the fore, and remind Mongolian interlocutors that a decision needs to be made. (Note: Ambassador's requests for meetings with the Prime Minister, Speaker, Foreign Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and Defense Minister are pending, but appointments are expected within the next week.) ¶4. (C) At a dinner for outgoing DATT on June 5, Ambassador underlined to Ministry of Defense State Secretary Borbaatar and to Chief of General Staff LTG Togoo the U.S. hope that Mongolia will make a favorable decision on the 8th rotation as soon as possible. GOLDBECK