RESPONSE TO RUSSIAN PROTEST OF U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003825 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/06/2028 TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MOPS IZ RS SUBJECT: RESPONSE TO RUSSIAN PROTEST OF U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN NOV 19 VEHICLE ACCIDENT REF: REF A: EUR/NEA/EMBASSY MOSCOW/EMBASSY BAGHDAD EMAILS Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Patricia A. Butenis for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (S) Summary: The Russian MFA has filed protests in Washington and Moscow regarding a November 19 traffic accident on the Baghdad airport highway in which the GoR alleges a U.S. military vehicle forced a Russian diplomatic vehicle off the road, resulting in injuries to the passengers. After an extensive investigation, Multi-National Force Iraq (MNF-I) has developed no evidence to suggest that any U.S. military personnel or vehicles were involved in such an accident. Post obtained more detailed information from the Russian Embassy in Baghdad, but even with this new information MNF-I was unable to find any evidence of U.S. involvement. Post believes it is possible that the military vehicles in question could have been Iraqi, as the Iraqi inventory also includes vehicles that fit the description provided by the Russians. Should the Department wish to recommend to the Russians that they approach Iraqi authorities to request an investigation of possible Iraqi involvement, Embassy Baghdad is prepared to cooperate with the Russians locally to facilitate such an inquiry. End Summary. -------------- -------------- Russians Accuse U.S. of Involvement in Vehicle Accident -------------- -------------- ¶2. (S) The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivered a diplomatic note to the Department on November 21, protesting U.S. military involvement in a traffic accident that purportedly occurred on November 19 in Baghdad along Route Irish, the road connecting the International Zone (IZ) to Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). The dip note states that "a motorcade of four U.S. Army armored personnel carriers" approached a Russian diplomatic motorcade from the rear at a high rate of speed. The convoy is reported to have overtaken the Russian motorcade and forced it off the road - causing the first of three Russian vehicles to spin out of control, nearly overturning it. According to the Russian note, "the U.S. Army convoy continued on without stopping and was escorted by two U.S. military helicopters." It is also alleged that "American military personnel pointed their weapons" at the Russian diplomats as the passed. ¶3. (S) The Russian note continued that the "maneuver by the U.S. armored personnel carrier, which cannot be explained by anything, was a real threat to the lives of Russian citizens( victims received injuries of various degrees of seriousness." The Russians demanded an investigation and "punishment of the guilty U.S. Army personnel." They also note that they reserve the right to seek material and moral compensation, including possible compensation for the HEALTH of the victims. -------------- --- Post and MNF-I Report Findings of Investigation -------------- --- ¶4. (S) The Russian embassy in Baghdad never contacted Post regarding the November 19 accident. When notified by the Department on November 24 of the Russian protest (ref A), Embassy Pol-Mil section contacted the Russian Embassy in Baghdad to discuss the incident. Chief Consular Officer Sergey Brik reiterated to PolMilOff the information contained in the Russian note and said that a detailed report of the incident would be forthcoming. The report provided by Brik on November 24 contained little more information than was in Qon November 24 contained little more information than was in the dip note, but noted specifically that 4 or 5 allegedly U.S. Army "MRAP" vehicles were involved in the accident. ¶5. (S) Post responded by submitting to the Russian embassy a detailed list of questions aimed at identifying the persons or vehicles involved in the incident. On November 27, Brik responded to Post's query with some additional information. He noted that the alleged U.S. vehicles were sand colored, had four wheels with spare tires mounted on the right-hand side and had machine guns mounted atop on revolving turrets. He was unable to note any identifying markers, flags or writing on the vehicles. He could not identify the color or pattern of uniforms worn by any personnel from the alleged U.S. convoy. He stated that U.S. Black Hawk helicopters were escorting the alleged U.S. motorcade, which circled the Russian motorcade several times after the accident and continued toward BIAP. In a conversation with PolMilOff, Brik stated that "the accident lasted only seconds" and that "everyone's attention focused on the Russian vehicle that had spun out of control." He said that "no ONE saw any weapons BAGHDAD 00003825 002 OF 002 or persons." ¶6. (S) MNF-I CJ3 (Operations) on November 25 submitted to subordinate units and to the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I) an official Request for Information (RFI) regarding the accident, providing the details of the incident contained in the Russian note as well as the information subsequently provided by the Russian embassy in Baghdad. All units responded negatively to the RFI and no similar incidents were reported. MNSTC-I confirmed that they did not have any MRAP vehicles on Route Irish on November 19. Multi-National Corps Iraq (MNC-I) queried the Blue Force Tracker system, an electronic system used to track the location of U.S. military forces, and determined that numerous U.S. vehicles transited Route Irish on November 19, but was unable to determine that any U.S. forces were in proximity to the accident. Similarly, MNF-I confirmed that on the date and time of the accident there were no U.S. military helicopters escorting motorcades on Route Irish, and it was unable to locate any aircrew who reported seeing an accident. ¶7. (S) Additionally, the Armed Contractors Oversight Division (ACOD) - an MNF-I entity which tracks the activities of Private Security Contractors - queried their "Tapestry" tracking system and showed nothing to match the details provided for the incident. MNF-I concluded its investigation into the incident on December 3, noting that there was no credible evidence to support the Russian claims that any U.S. military forces were involved in the November 19 accident. Separately, the Embassy's Regional Security Office (RSO) concluded that no Chief of Mission vehicles were traveling on Route Irish on the date and time reported by the Russians. Also, there were no RSO air assets either escorting a motorcade or traveling to BIAP along Route Irish on that date and time. ¶8. (S) Comment: Post recommends that the Department and Embassy Moscow request additional information from Moscow, but at this point we expect the Russians have provided us all the details they can. Post believes it is possible that if such an accident took place as described the military vehicle in question could have been Iraqi, as the Iraqi inventory also includes vehicles that fit the description provided by the Russians. Should the Department wish to recommend to the Russians that they approach Iraqi authorities to request an investigation of possible Iraqi involvement, Embassy Baghdad is prepared to cooperate with the Russians locally to facilitate such an inquiry. MNF-I understands the diplomatic sensitivity of this issue and has pledged to follow up on any additional leads that the Russians can provide. End Comment. CROCKER