US embassy cable - 04YEREVAN2787

UNCLAS YEREVAN 002787 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CACEN 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PREL, MARR, MOPS, IZ, AM 
SUBJECT:  NATIONAL ASSEMBLY APPROVES GOAM NON-COMBAT 
CONTINGENT TO IRAQ 
 
REF:  YEREVAN 2166 
 
(U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
1. (SBU) On December 24, the Armenian National Assembly 
voted to authorize sending a non-combat contingent to 
Iraq.  This clears the way for deployment of the 
approximately 50-man GOAM contingent of drivers, 
sappers, and medics to Iraq in early to mid-January. 
The resolution ratifies an agreement signed by 
President Kocharian on September 6, committing Armenian 
personnel to work with the Polish contingent already in 
Iraq (reftel).  Opposition parties who boycotted the 
National Assembly during most of 2004 returned and 
largely voted against the deployment.  Most of the pro- 
government coalition (with the exception of the 
Dashnaks) and non-aligned members, however, voted for 
the resolution, and it easily cleared the National 
Assembly by a vote of 91 for to 23 against, with one 
abstention. 
 
2. (SBU) The National Assembly did not reveal details 
of the eight-hour debate, but sources told us that the 
Defense Minister Serzh Sargsian took the floor four 
times to urge passage of the resolution.  After the 
vote, Sargsian told the press that sending Armenians to 
Iraq is necessary for national security, implying that 
the favor of the West is crucial to that security. 
 
3. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. 
EVANS