IRAQ-TURKEY-U.S. TRILATERAL DIALOGUE: PREPARATIONS

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000723 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2029 TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR IZ TU SUBJECT: IRAQ-TURKEY-U.S. TRILATERAL DIALOGUE: PREPARATIONS CONTINUE FOR INTELLIGENCE SHARING CELL IN KRG; MINISTERIAL-LEVEL TRILAT IN APRIL REF: A. BAGHDAD 561 ¶B. BAGHDAD 368 Classified By: POLMIL Minister Counselor Michael H. Corbin for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: At a March 10 meeting with Pol-Mil MinCouns and MNF-I CJ3, and at the March 12 Subcommittee meeting of the Iraq-Turkey-U.S. Security Dialogue, Minister of State for National Security Affairs (MSNSA),Shirwan al-Waeili said the GoI supports the opening of an Erbil intelligence liaison office, which should be on a small scale and not visible to the public. Anticipating the next meeting of the Ministerial level of the trilateral committee to take place on April 11, Waeili pressed for inclusion of the Makhmour Refugee camp on the agenda and made a pro forma request for Turkey to reduce the number of cross border operations (CBOs) without asking for this to be placed on the ministerial agenda. Other topics for the Ministerial include an announcement that Iraq will ban the PKK-front PCDK Party and a possible bilateral agreement on military to military intelligence training between Turkey and Iraq. END SUMMARY -------------- THE ERBIL INTELLIGENCE CELL -------------- ¶2. (C) In a March 10 meeting at his home with MinCouns Michael Corbin and MNF-I CJ3 (Operations) Director MG Guy Swan, and again at the March 12 session of the Trilateral Working Group, MSNSA al-Waeili said that the GoI fully supported the idea of opening an intelligence cell in northern Iraq. Key points from the two meetings: -- Waeili told MinCouns and MG Swan that he had just returned from a two-day visit to the KRG to discuss the intelligence office there. Waeili said that the liaison office should be relatively small and unobtrusive, nowhere near the scale of the 40 to 50 person organization previously envisaged. He termed it a cell, rather than an office, and expressed concern that a large organization would attract unwanted attention and, thereby, security challenges (Ref A). He said the facility the GOI/KRG had in mind was attached to the headquarters of the brigade commanded by BG Delshad, the KRG rep to the trilateral committee. MinCouns suggested the office will be "quiet, but not secret." At the Subcommittee meeting, Waeili rejected the idea of locating the cell at the former Korean military base Camp Zaytun. �00A; --The Iraqis presented the U.S. and Turkish subcommittee participants with a proposed $698,000 budget not just for the operations of the Erbil cell (to which the U.S. and Turkish participants had earlier agreed in principle to contribute) but for broader operations of the committee (including payments to intelligence sources, which MinCouns had earlier suggested to Waeli that it was unlikely the U.S. could fund). This figure included both start-up costs and six months of recurring costs. U.S. delegation lead RDML Little promised a response to the budget proposal by March 26, the scheduled date of the next Subcommittee. --Waeili proposed April 11 as the date for the next Ministerial-level trilat meeting, to which RDML Little and the Turkish rep COL Ozen agreed. --At both the March 10 meeting and the subcommittee meeting on March 12, Waeili expressed dissatisfaction with the public statements about the office made by Foreign Minister Zebari, and urged all parties to refrain from further public comments Qand urged all parties to refrain from further public comments on the topic. -- Waeili made a pro forma request for Turkey to reduce the number of cross border operations (CBOs) without asking for this to be placed on the ministerial agenda. -------------- MAKHMOUR REFUGEE CAMP -------------- ¶3. (C) Waeili raised the Makhmour Refugee Camp as an agenda item for the next Ministerial, saying the GoI was looking for the Turkish government to take action that would permit the resolution of the problem by allowing the Turkish Kurds to return to Turkey (Ref B). Waeili said the presence of almost 12,000 young people - many sympathetic to the PKK - without jobs or hope - could turn into a serious security issue for Iraq. COL Ozen remarked that because the camp was under the BAGHDAD 00000723 002 OF 002 authority of the UNHCR (a point disputed by Waeili),it should not be included on the Ministerial agenda. (NOTE: Embassy RefCoord reports the camp is under the authority of the GoI, while UNHCR manages the camp and implements programs. End note.) RDML Little proposed the GoI present its request for information on Makhmour to the GoT prior to the Ministerial, which it agreed to do, leaving unresolved the question of whether the Ministerial would address the topic. -------------- THE PCDK PARTY - ALMOST BANNED -------------- ¶4. (C) Waeili said the GoI had taken steps against the (note: PKK front; end note) PCDK party, closing "some of their offices in Baghdad and Kirkuk." The GoI also ensured that the party will not be permitted to take part in future elections. At the GoT's request, the topic of the PCDK will be included at the Ministerial. "It would be very good if we could release an announcement after the Ministerial that the PCDK will be banned," COL Ozen said. -------------- MORE INTELLIGENCE SHARING -------------- ¶5. (S) At the Subcommittee meeting, the GoI's KRG rep, BG Delshad presented a lengthy and reasonably detailed report on PKK activities, camp locations, financing, and weapons in northern Iraq. This marks the second occasion of the KRG providing tangible intelligence, as part of the GoI delegation, to the GoT in this forum. (We will pass the details to Ankara and Washington upon receipt in written form.) BG Fares of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) made an additional presentation on what he described as a new five-point PKK strategy: (1) mobilizing the Turkish public against the GoT; (2) directing Turkish youth to disregard military conscription laws; (3) abandoning the use of PKK conferences and meetings and utilizing a more militant stance; (4) developing military operations in Turkish cities; and (5) moving into the border areas. ¶6. (C) In response to an Iraqi request, COL Ozen said Turkey would be pleased to provide intelligence training to GoI organizations, and proposed placing the topic on the agenda for the Ministerial. He said this would likely require a bilateral agreement between Iraq and Turkey to permit mil-to-mil intel training. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (C) The Iraqis are increasingly well-prepared to discuss the business of the trilat. That Minister Waeili traveled to Erbil to lay the groundwork with the KRG for the intel liaison cell is a good sign and an indication of high-level GoI support and willingness to work closely with the KRG and Turkey. We expect the USG will have to provide some funding to get the cell up and running and are discussing this with S/CT and MNF-I. We continue to sense a less than full commitment from the GoI to permit Turkish representatives to participate in the proposed Erbil intelligence cell; it may be that at least some GOI actors are focused on the benefits of putting their own and U.S. officers into a cell in Erbil. We have pressed the message - and will continue to do so - that without Turkish involvement, we will not support the office. BUTENIS