OIC OBSERVER MISSION REQUESTS DIPLOMATIC

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000102

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR IO/UNP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OFDP OIC UN
SUBJECT: OIC OBSERVER MISSION REQUESTS DIPLOMATIC
PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES



1. USUN has received a diplomatic note dated January 22, 2008
from the Permanent Observer Mission of the Organization of
the Islamic Conference requesting diplomatic recognition for
the Mission. The request is made pursuant to the final
communiqu of the annual coordination meeting of OIC Foreign
Ministers in October 2007. Text of the diplomatic note
appears in paragraph 2 below; the relevant paragraph of the
communiqu appears in paragraph 3. The request does not
specify whether the OIC is requesting diplomatic status for
the observer office alone, or whether it is also seeking
diplomatic status for the individual members. At present,
the office has no privileges and immunities whatsoever, and
as its members are in New York on B-1 visas, USUN requests
the Citizenship and Immigration Service extend their official
stays every six months. Department is requested to provide
USUN with instructions for a reply.


2. Begin text of diplomatic note: (complimentary
salutation... and has the honor to enclose a copy of document
A/62/507 - S/2007/636 containing the Final Communiqu of the
Annual Coordination Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs
of the Member States of the OIC, held at the UN Headquarters
in New York on 2 October 2007, circulated as an official
document of the General Assembly and the Security Council.
Kind attention is invited to Article 146 of the document
which deals with the issue of diplomatic status for the
Permanent Observer Mission of the OIC to the United Nations
in New York.
The document is being forwarded to the esteemed Mission of
the United States to the United Nations for initiating action
on this issue. It is also requested that this may kindly be
brought to the attention of HE Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.
(Complimentary close) End text.


3. Begin text of Article 146 of the OIC Communiqu: The
Meeting noted with deep concern the continued difficulties
faced by the Permanent Observer Mission of the Organization
of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to the UN in New York due to
the absence of diplomatic status of the Mission. Recognizing
the central role of the Permanent Observer Mission to the
United Nations in New York, the Meeting urged the government
of the United States of America, as the host country, to
extend full diplomatic status to the Mission. The Meeting
called for the establishment of Ambassadorial Level Committee
in New York comprising the Troikas of the OIC Summit and the
Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers to pursue this issue
with the Government of the United States. End text.
KHALILZAD