Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BAGHDAD1606
2009-06-19 08:31:00
SECRET
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

NATO REPS OBTAIN TENTATIVE AGREEMENT ON

Tags:  PREL PGOV MARR MOPS IZ NATO 
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FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RXFSNHQ/NATO BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3538
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 0158
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC//NSC// PRIORITY
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001606 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/17/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MOPS IZ NATO
SUBJECT: NATO REPS OBTAIN TENTATIVE AGREEMENT ON
JURISDICTIONAL IMMUNITIES WITH IRAQ

Classified By: Pol-Mil Minister Counselor Michael Corbin for reasons
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001606

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/17/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MOPS IZ NATO
SUBJECT: NATO REPS OBTAIN TENTATIVE AGREEMENT ON
JURISDICTIONAL IMMUNITIES WITH IRAQ

Classified By: Pol-Mil Minister Counselor Michael Corbin for reasons 1.
4 (b) and (d).


1. (S) Summary: NATO Assistant Secretary General for
Operations Martin Howard conducted a successful trip to
Baghdad on June 13 - 14, obtaining support from the
Government of Iraq's authorized negotiator for new language
in the proposed NATO-GOI agreement. This new language would
provide NATO Training Mission-Iraq (NTM-I) personnel with
jurisdictional immunities similar in many respects to those
in the U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement. Howard has returned to
Brussels and is seeking North Atlantic Council (NAC) approval
in principle for the immunities portion of the agreement.
The Iraqi Minister of Defense's legal advisor plans to travel
to Brussels next week to finalize the remaining articles of
the agreement, which Howard will then submit for final NAC
approval. The Iraqi Minister of Defense is then authorized to
sign the agreement with the NATO Secretary General and once
signed, according to Howard, the document would provide
sufficient Iraqi commitment for NATO members to continue the
training mission in Iraq, even if the GOI decides it must
then go to the Council of Representatives for approval and
President for ratification. Support for NTM-I is high and at
this point the only challenge we see is timing as NATO wishes
to complete the long-term Agreement before the next rotation
of NTM-I personnel on July 8. End Summary.


2. (S) NATO Assistant Secretary General for Operations Martin
Howard visited Iraq on June 13 - 14 to negotiate an agreement
with the Government of Iraq (GOI) for the continuation of
NATO Training Mission-Iraq (NTM-I). Howard's key meeting was
with Iraqi Minister of Defense Abd al-Qadir, in which the two
officials and their legal advisors agreed on new text for
Article 11 of the proposed NATO-GOI agreement, the most
challenging and politically sensitive article as it addresses
jurisdictional immunities. The new text gives the GOI
jurisdiction over NATO personnel only "for grave intentional

crimes and crimes of gross negligence, when such crimes are
committed outside agreed areas and facilities and outside
duty status." The article gives exclusive jurisdiction over
NTM-I personnel to the sending NATO member state in all other
cases, providing NATO personnel with jurisdictional
immunities roughly equivalent to those in the U.S.-Iraq
Security Agreement. Of notable difference, the U.S.-Iraq
Security Agreement affords the GOI primary jurisdiction over
members of the U.S. Forces and the civilian component for
"grave premeditated felonies"-a term to be defined by the
Iraq-US Joint Subcommittee on Jurisdiction-when such crimes
are committed outside agreed facilities and areas and outside
duty status. Although the specific offenses covered by the
draft NATO text are also undefined, the language concerning
"crimes of gross negligence" in addition to "grave
international crimes" may allow for broader Iraqi
jurisdiction than would likely be the case under the
U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement.


3. (S) Howard told NATO Ambassadors at a lunch just following
his meeting with Abd al-Qadir that he is satisfied and
confident that NATO now has a solid proposal and clear way
forward from the GOI. Howard has taken the new text of
Article 11 back to Brussels and is circulating it for
QArticle 11 back to Brussels and is circulating it for
members' "approval in principle" under silence procedure from
June 16 through 18. He also briefs the North Atlantic Council
(NAC) on his successful visit to Iraq at the council's weekly
meeting on June 17. Abd al-Qadir will send the new article's
text as part of a new draft of the overall agreement to
Brussels probably within the next week. At Howard's
invitation and with Abd al-Qadir's support, MOD Legal Advisor
Dr. Ghaleb plans to travel to Brussels during the week of
June 22 to finalize the remaining articles of the agreement.
Dr. Ghaleb told EmbOffs on June 17 that he has submitted his
visa application and that, in his view, the hard work is
already complete. Once the rest of the articles are
finalized, Howard will seek formal NAC approval for the
negotiated agreement.


4. (S) Prime Minister Maliki told the Ambassador on June 13
that Abd al-Qadir is authorized by the Iraqi Cabinet to both
negotiate and sign the agreement with NATO, a message echoed
by other GOI leaders and by Abd al-Qadir himself to Howard.
The agreement will likely require ratification by the Council
of Representatives (COR),but that will ultimately be the
decision of the Cabinet. There is a strong consensus that
Abd al-Qadir can sign the agreement on behalf of the Iraqi
government with NATO before returning it to the Cabinet for
the approval process. EmbOffs find throughout their

BAGHDAD 00001606 002 OF 002


engagements with GOI officials that overall views toward
NTM-I are highly positive and should facilitate support for
the long-term agreement by all necessary authorities.
Negotiations continue to move at a measured pace as they
require the attention of a few key Iraqi leaders in a series
of engagements between Brussels and Baghdad. Completion of
the long-term agreement before the next rotation of NTM-I
personnel on July 8 is not guaranteed, but all parties are
working toward that goal.


5. (S) According to Howard, the official signing between the
GOI's designated representative and the NATO Secretary
General will constitute Iraqi commitment to a binding
international agreement sufficient for NATO to continue with
its mission in Iraq. It is up to the GOI to decide what is
necessary to implement the agreement internally, including
whether it must be approved by the COR. The NATO
representatives and NATO ambassadors agreed on the high
likelihood the Cabinet will decide to submit the agreement
for ratification to the COR, as Abd al-Qadir has alluded he
fully expects. The NATO ambassadors agreed with Howard and
NTM-I commander LTG Helmick's requests that they continue to
educate GOI officials about the value of the NATO training
mission during their regular engagements.
FORD