US embassy cable - 04AMMAN4748

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 004748 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA AND PRM; GENEVA FOR RMA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/10/2014 
TAGS: PREF, PREL, IZ, LE, JO, UNHCR 
SUBJECT: NAQUORA KURDS STUCK IN AMMAN 
 
REF: BEIRUT 1270 
 
Classified By: CDA Doug Silliman for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (U) The nearly two-and-a-half year saga of the "Naquora 
Kurds," Iraqi Kurds who attempted to seek political asylum in 
Israel and ended up stranded on the Israeli-Lebanese border 
under UNIFIL protection (ref), hit a new snag this week when 
the UN plane carrying the remaining 14 Kurds from Lebanon to 
Iraq experienced technical difficulties and made an emergency 
landing at Amman's Marka Airport on June 7.  The Dutch Air 
Force crew piloting the UN plane refused to continue the 
flight to Iraq after the Kurds reportedly became unruly and 
refused to return to Iraq.  The Dutch Ministry of Defense 
subsequently supported the crew's decision and instructed the 
crew not to board the Kurds, citing concerns over the crew's 
security should the Kurds become unruly mid-flight. 
 
2.  (U) Tensions among UNHCR, the Dutch crew, the Kurds and 
Jordanian airport authorities came to a boil on June 9, when 
the Kurds agreed to reboard the plane and return to Iraq but 
Dutch crew members refused to leave Amman.  Jordanian airport 
authorities then impounded the plane and detained the crew 
and several UNHCR staff members for several hours.  According 
to both UNHCR and Dutch embassy sources, the GOJ insists that 
the Kurds cannot remain in Jordan and must leave the same way 
they entered, via the Dutch-crewed UN flight. 
 
3.  (C) Ali Al Ayed, Director of FM Muasher's private office, 
told Charge June 10 that the GOJ is following events closely 
but is in no hurry to resolve the impasse.  The GOJ is 
confident that it will convince Dutch authorities to allow 
the crew to ferry the Kurds home to Iraq.  UNHCR is pursuing 
its own efforts to resolve the situation, with the High 
Commissioner for Refugees scheduled to speak to the Dutch 
Minister of Defense today, June 10.  Should the High 
Commissioner's efforts prove unsuccessful, UNHCR will try to 
arrange either a charter flight to Irbil or an overland 
transfer through the Karameh/Trebil border post.  We have 
informed CPA-Baghdad and HACC-Amman of this possibility and 
will continue to monitor the situation.  UNHCR assures us 
that the Kurds' planned return is indeed voluntary. 
 
4.  (U) CPA Baghdad minimize considered. 
SILLIMAN