DELIVERING DEMARCHE ON WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 003320 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/18/2019 TAGS: PREL UNSC IZ SUBJECT: DELIVERING DEMARCHE ON WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION OPTIONS REF: A. STATE 130342 ¶B. BAGHDAD 3300 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Gary A. Grappo, for reasons 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (C) Pol M/C delivered the points contained in Ref A in general terms to FM Zebari at an already scheduled meeting December 23. Pol M/C committed to following up with senior officials at the MFA early next week to provide details of the three options for getting the WMD resolutions lifted. Zebari welcomed the USG action. ¶2. (C) With regard to the issue of the Additional Protocol (AP),Zebari asserted that it had previously been through two readings at the Council of Representatives (COR). He took issue with Speaker Sammarra'i's assertion to NEA A/S Feltman (ref B) that the GOI had failed to underline to the COR leadership the urgency of ratifying the AP. Zebari noted that he was set to answer questions before the COR later in the afternoon (primarily focused on the border dispute with Iran over the Fakka oil field) and planned to underscore the importance of COR action on the AP. FORD