US embassy cable - 02KUWAIT5236

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 005236 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR D, NEA/FO, NEA/ARP, NEA/NGA, IO/UNP 
GENEVA FOR STONECIPHER 
LONDON FOR GOLDRICH 
PARIS FOR OFRIEL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/03/2012 
TAGS: PREL, KPOW, IZ, KU, ICRC 
SUBJECT: (C) GULF WAR MISSING:  IRAQ CLAIMS TO ACCEPT TPC 
PROPOSAL 
 
REF: KUWAIT 5134 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR RICHARD H. JONES; REASON 1.5 (D) 
 
1.  (C) ICRC Delegate Michel Meyer told PolChief December 3 
that his headquarters has received a letter from Arab League 
Secretary General Amr Mousa transmitting a November 27 letter 
 
SIPDIS 
from the Iraqi mission to the Arab League in Cairo, which 
affirmed that Iraq accepted the proposal by the Tripartite 
Commission (TPC - see paragraph 3 below) and had so informed 
ICRC in Baghdad.  According to ICRC's Delegate in Baghdad, 
the Iraqi side expressed positive interest and promised to 
confirm acceptance in writing but had not yet done so as of 
December 2.  ICRC is insisting that the GOI communicate 
officially and directly with it in writing, before taking 
action to convene an extraordinary session of the TPC to act 
on the proposal. 
 
2.  (C) Meyer added that he had briefed Rabeea Al-Adsani of 
Kuwait's National Committee for Missing and POW Affairs 
(NCMPA); he said Adsani was relieved to hear that ICRC was 
insisting on official, direct communication within the TPC 
context, fearing that Iraq was still maneuvering to undermine 
the TPC. 
 
3.  (C) For ease of reference:  the proposal agreed at the 
October 24 TPC consultation in Geneva was to suspend for four 
months the quorum rule of the TPC's Technical Sub-Committee 
(TSC) "in order to allow meetings between Iraq and any other 
TPC member to address cases previously discussed in the TPC, 
in the presence of a third mutually agreed TPC member." 
 
4.  (C) COMMENT:  Meyer seemed to believe we may be on the 
verge of a breakthrough in the deadlock that has prevented 
the TPC from meeting officially since late 1998 when Iraq 
decided to boycott the Commission in protest at the presence 
of the US and UK.  We agree that ICRC is wise to insist on 
proper procedure to protect the integrity of the TPC process, 
which Baghdad has consistently sought to undermine. 
RJONES