AUSTRALIA WANTS UNSC MANDATE FOR MNF-I FOR SEVERAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000965 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/05/2017 TAGS: PREL UNSC AS PM IZ SUBJECT: AUSTRALIA WANTS UNSC MANDATE FOR MNF-I FOR SEVERAL YEARS TO COME Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay M. Khalilzad, per 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) During a meeting with Amb Khalilzad on November 2, Australian PermRep Robert Hill said his government would want a Chapter VII UNSC mandate for its troops in Iraq for several years to come (other issues reported septel). Hill was reassured by Amb Khalilzad that the UNSC would extend the Chapter VII authorities for MNF-I at the end of 2007 for one year. But Hill emphasized that when this mandate expires in 2008, it should be extended again, rather than acceding to the Iraqi Government's preference that individual troop contributors conclude bilateral Status of Forces Agreements (SOFAs) to govern the conduct of their troops. Hill was particularly concerned about possible Iraqi attempts to include a provision in the 2008 MNF-I resolution stipulating that this would be the last Chapter VII Council mandate. Amb Khalilzad told him we understood Australia's concerns and would take them into account when discussing the issue with Iraq and other UNSC partners. Khalilzad