EMBASSY DELIVERS U.S. PROPOSAL ON OUT OF COUNTRY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 003310 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM IZ SUBJECT: EMBASSY DELIVERS U.S. PROPOSAL ON OUT OF COUNTRY VOTING DIP NOTE Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gary A. Grappo for reason s 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) On December 22, Poloffs delivered the text of a proposed diplomatic note on Out of Country Voting (OCV) to Dr. Fadil Alwan Issa and Dr. Salwan Sinjaree of the International Conventions Section of the Iraqi Ministry of Affairs. The draft diplomatic notes were identical copies of those delivered to Mr. Raghad Hasan at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington DC on December 16. Poloffs confirmed to the MFA representatives that the United States wishes to support OCV for Iraq in the United States in March 2010, but that the United States would not be able to sign the draft Memorandum of Understanding presented by the Government of Iraq to the Embassy on November 12. In addition, poloffs explained to the MFA representatives that the language of the draft diplomatic note is very similar to other diplomatic notes normally accepted by the State Department when other countries request permission to conduct elections in the United States. ¶2. (C) Dr. Issa accepted the draft text, and agreed to reply to the Embassy after consultations with the Out of Country Voting Committee recently established at the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC). Poloffs emphasized the need to come to agreement on the text as soon as possible, and before IHEC's operational deadline on January 10, 2010. FORD