US embassy cable - 05RABAT1161

UNCLAS RABAT 001161 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG, NEA/I 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, ASEC, IZ, MO, EUN 
SUBJECT: MOROCCO TO ATTEND THE U.S.-EU INTERNATIONAL 
CONFERENCE ON IRAQ 
 
REF: A. STATE 93742 
     B. STATE 94861 
     C. STATE 103222 
 
1. (SBU) Poloff joined Dutch Counselor Caroline Weijers (as 
local representative of the EU Presidency) and EU Commission 
Charge d'Affaires Olivier Ruyssen to deliver ref (a) demarche 
(with ref b changes) to MFA Director of Arab and Islamic 
Affairs Mohamed Azeroual on June 2.  The delegation explained 
the details and logistics of the upcoming conference and 
invited Moroccan participation.  Per EU instructions, the 
delegation did not leave any written document behind.  In 
response, Azeroual reviewed current Moroccan assistance to 
the Iraqi government, including: hosting 20 Iraqi diplomats 
for a recent three-week training course at the MFA, bringing 
a group of Iraqi Ministry of Justice officials to consult 
with Moroccan judges on various issues including the new 
Moroccan family code, and dispatching three planeloads of 
humanitarian assistance to Iraq.  Azeroual also emphasized 
the fact that Morocco had never closed its Embassy in Baghdad 
and has very active diplomats currently serving there.  He 
also pointed to the 2004 letter King Mohammed VI had sent to 
PM Alawi offering to train Iraqi security forces in Morocco, 
but noted that these forces were currently being trained in 
Jordan which was obviously more convenient.  Azeroual 
confirmed that Morocco would continue to play an active, but 
low profile, role as it has all along to support the 
stabilization of Iraq. 
 
2. (SBU) Regarding the conference, Azeroual said that it was 
very likely that Morocco would attend, but he could not 
confirm who would participate.  He himself would not be able 
to attend due to the visit during the same time period of 
Algerian PM Ouyahia to Rabat, but he hoped that one of the 
two MFA Ministers would be available to attend.  Azeroual 
noted that the GOM had attended the Madrid conference, but 
expressed his hope that the US-EU conference would not be a 
redux of that meeting.  The Brussels meeting should give more 
of a "push" to Iraq to move out of its current situation, 
especially given the fact that the country has very rich 
human resources. 
 
3. (SBU) Post had not yet received ref (c) demarche request 
regarding deliverables for the International Conference on 
Iraq prior to meeting Azeroual, but will follow-up and report 
results. 
RILEY