US embassy cable - 04ZAGREB71

S E C R E T  ZAGREB 000071 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE:KABUMOTO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2014 
TAGS: PREL, MARR, KAWC, ETTC, IZ, SY, HR, Defense Reform (Mil & NATO) 
SUBJECT: CROATIAN PRESIDENT MESIC: OK ON IRAQ TROOP 
CONTRIBUTIONS, WAIT ON ARTICLE 98, LIBYAN SHIP REFIT, TRIP 
TO SYRIA 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Ralph Frank, reasons 1.5 (b) & (d) 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1. (S) In the Ambassador's January 13 call on President Mesic 
to seek movement on key bilateral issues, Mesic offered to go 
slow for the time being on any contract to refit a Libyan 
naval vessel while restating his desire to develop commercial 
relations with Libya.  Mesic committed not to get in the way 
 
 VBI0878  SECURITY ERROR 
of moves by the new government to send Croatian troops to 
Iraq, but he remained concerned about the increased risk of 
terrorist attacks on Croatian tourist installations.  Mesic 
continued to balk at signing an Article 98 agreement until 
the ICTY has issued all indictments against Croatian 
citizens.  Mesic plans to visit Syria before the summer and 
asked for U.S. views on a possible meeting with Syrian 
President Asad (see comment paragraph 9).  Intelligence 
cooperation discussions will be reported septel.  End SUMMARY. 
 
Go Slow on Libya Ship Refit 
--------------------------- 
 
2. (S) The Ambassador called on President Stipe Mesic on 
January 13 to review core bilateral issues and set the tone 
for what we hope will be regular consultations.  Also 
attending the meeting were Presidential Foreign Policy 
Advisor Ambassador Mastruko, Assistant to the Foreign Policy 
Advisor Tomislav Car, and Poloff Justin Friedman (notetaker). 
 Ambassador Frank led the meeting by noting recent moves by 
Libya to come clean on its WMD programs and resolve the 
Lockerbie case.  However, the restoration of normal relations 
would need to wait until implementation of the agreement on 
WMD was verified and U.S. sanctions were lifted.  In the 
interim, the Ambassador urged that Croatia continue to hold 
off on any contract to refit the Libyan naval vessel 
Al-Munijed. 
 
3. (S) President Mesic responded that Libya was testing 
Croatia with this ship refit contract, and that $150 million 
in commercial contracts were contingent on this deal. 
However, Croatia understood U.S. concerns and would wait on 
consummating any refit deal by stalling the Libyans "in the 
Arab way."  Mesic repeated Croatia's offer to allow U.S. 
intelligence access to the ship when it arrives in Croatian 
waters and offered that prospective Croatian contractors in 
Libya could also be exploited for intelligence purposes.  He 
said that he had good personal relations with Libyan leader 
Qadhafi, based in part on Qadhafi's deep admiration for 
deceased Yugoslav dictator Tito, as well as on Mesic's 
significant personal experience working in Libya.  Mesic said 
he had worked for many years in Libya during his days as 
chief of an engineering firm, including work on three 
separate 1000-person settlements along the Libya-Chad border, 
and had visited Libya officially previously when he held the 
rotating Yugoslav presidency.  Mesic noted that he had 
invited Qadhafi to visit Croatia, although no dates have been 
discussed. 
 
Won't Block Troops to Iraq 
-------------------------- 
 
4. (C) Ambassador Frank turned the conversation to Iraq, 
commenting that a Croatian troop contribution to the 
coalition would be a significant gesture toward improving 
bilateral relations.  The Ambassador noted that UNSCR 1511 
specifically authorized the international military force in 
Iraq and urged member states to contribute to the military 
effort.  As recently as two weeks ago, Mesic had publicly 
commented that Croatia needed a further UN resolution 
authorizing military force before it could contribute troops. 
 Mesic further commented in the press that troop 
contributions would increase the risk of terrorist attacks in 
Croatia. 
 
5. (C) Mesic said that he agreed on our assessment of UNSCR 
1511, but countered that the coalition action "was not a UN 
action."  However, Mesic agreed that Croatia should assist 
international efforts in Iraq to speed up Croatia's pace on 
the road to Euro-Atlantic integration.  Mesic said that he 
 
would not push for a troop contribution, but would not make 
any effort to block such a contribution if it received 
support in the Sabor.  He preferred that the contribution 
have a non-military profile, such as engineers, medical 
personnel, or even military police.  Mesic offered, however, 
that he would be in contact with the government and would not 
do anything to make Sabor approval more difficult.  (Comment: 
The required two-thirds majority in the Sabor for a 
deployment is problematic and a significant challenge for the 
HDZ-led government.  Nonetheless, Mesic's commitment is a 
positive development.  The Croatian armed forces have been 
training a small special forces unit for potential deployment 
to Iraq.) 
 
6. (C) President Mesic appeared surprised when the Ambassador 
noted that there had been no terrorist attacks on countries 
contributing troops to the Iraq coalition since the start of 
operations.  However, Mesic said he remained deeply concerned 
about the risk to Croatia's critical tourism industry of an 
attack on a hotel on the Adriatic coast. 
 
Wait on Article 98 
------------------ 
 
7. (C) Ambassador Frank urged President Mesic to support 
moves by the new government to seek an Article 98 agreement 
with the U.S.  He noted the importance of helping the 
Croatian public distinguish between the UN mandated ICTY and 
the ICC, which sought to assert jurisdiction over 
non-signatories like the U.S.  The Ambassador noted that 80 
countries, including other prospective EU members, had signed 
Article 98 agreements with the U.S. 
 
8. (C) President Mesic said he understood the U.S. position 
and reasons for seeking Article 98 agreements.  He agreed 
that the ICTY and ICC carried differently mandated 
obligations, but stressed the difficulties of conveying this 
distinction to the Croatian people who were victims of 
external aggression.  Mesic said that the ICTY performed a 
necessary role in Croatia of individualizing the guilt for 
war crimes committed by all sides.  He asked that the U.S. 
press the ICTY to issue all remaining indictments for 
Croatian citizens.  Once that was done, it would be easier 
for him to explain to the public the reasons for signing an 
Article 98 agreement with the U.S.  He added that once all 
Croatian indictees were in The Hague, Croatia could more 
easily sign an Article 98 agreement. 
 
Syria Visit 
----------- 
 
9. (C) Mesic asked what U.S. views would be if he were to 
meet with Syrian President Bashar al Asad.  He said that he 
was looking to visit the Middle East some time before the 
summer, and stops would include Syria, Qatar, Oman, and 
Jordan.  Mesic noted that the petroleum exploration Croatian 
firm Crosco (a subsidiary of INA) had taken over leases from 
U.S. firms of some gas and oil fields in Syria, and these 
were turning into major finds.  Several hundred Croatian 
citizens were now working in Syria, and Mesic felt it 
important that he visit them.  (Comment: We will seek 
guidance from Washington closer to the date of the trip on 
specific points that Mesic could use with Al-Asad if 
appropriate.) 
FRANK 
 
 
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