NATO/IRAQ: DENMARK AND PORTUGAL TEMPORARILY

S E C R E T USNATO 000009 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2019 TAGS: NATO PREL MOPS MARR IZ SUBJECT: NATO/IRAQ: DENMARK AND PORTUGAL TEMPORARILY WITHDRAW FROM IRAQ REF: A. USNATO 06 ¶B. BAGHDADE 72 Classified By: Ambassador Kurt Volker for reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Denmark and Portugal decided to withdraw their NATO Training Mission in Iraq (NTM-I) personnel from Iraq until the legal status of the mission can be clarified. The Czech Republic and Hungary may follow suit. NATO negotiators will meet with Iraqi NSA Rubaie in Baghdad next week to seek the clarifications sought by Allies. Allies may be assuaged by an endorsement of the December exchange of letters between NATO and the GOI and certain legal clarifications and do not seek to re-open the negotiations in the short-term. End summary. ¶2. (C) The Danish Permanent Representative informed the North Atlantic Council on January 14 that Denmark is transferring its 11 trainers from Iraq to JFC Naples until the legal status of the NTM-I mission can be clarified (Ref. A). He stressed that Denmark is fully committed to NTM-I and could return in a matter of days once the legal status has been clarified to its satisfaction. In addition, Portugal informed NTM-I and the NATO Secretary General (SYG) that it also would withdraw its six trainers until clarification is provided for the legal status of the mission. The Secretary General's staff tells us that Hungary and Czech Republic may follow if this issue is not quickly resolved. The loss of Denmark will be damaging to NTM-I because Denmark has several senior command billets, its personnel are highly regarded and do not have caveats on travel, as is the case for most other countries. ¶3. (C) NATO Assistant Secretary General Howard and Legal Advisor DeVidts plan to travel to Baghdad to meet with Rubaie to clarify the exchange of letters between Rubaie and the SYG (EOL). The NATO Legal Office has taken the position that the EOL supersedes Iraqi Council of Representatives resolution 50 (Ref A). Most Allies accept this interpretation, but need clarification because of the differing opinions coming from the GOI. Denmark told us that it could likely accept the EOL as the basis for NTM-I, but needs a clear understanding of the Iraqi interpretation of it before reaching a final decision (NOTE: Post believes the others will follow the Danish lead. Specific Danish legal questions have been emailed to EUR/RPM. End note). ¶4. (C) COMMENT: In the short-term, the Howard/DeVidts' visit needs to produce some sort of political endorsement of the existing EOL and clarifications of Allies' questions to reverse the dissipation of the mission. The Danes and others tell us that they do not want to re-open negotiations, but simply to confirm and clarify what has already been agreed. The next step would be to extend the mission beyond July 31. End comment. VOLKER