US embassy cable - 05DAMASCUS6165

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 006165 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, SY, IRPE 
SUBJECT: IRAQI OUT-OF-COUNTRY VOTING, PROSPECTS FOR 
DIPLOMATIC TIES, AND VISAS FOR SYRIANS 
 
REF: 04 DAMASCUS 0467 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen A. Seche, per 1.4 b,d. 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  The head of the Iraqi Interests Section in 
Damascus Sabah al-Imam told PolChief November 27 that an 
Iraqi official from Baghdad has arrived and is coordinating 
with SARG officials to organize Out-of-Country voing for 
December 13-15 at ten Damascus polling stations.  Imam 
expressed guarded hope that the SARG might move to 
re-estalish diplomatic ties with Iraq after the voting.  The 
consular division of the Interests Section issues fewer than 
200 visas monthly to Syrians to travel to Iraq, most of them 
for Syrian men married to Iraqi women.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (C) OUT-OF-COUNTRY VOTING FOR IRAQIS IN SYRIA:  The head 
of the Iraqi Interests Section in Damascus, Sabah al-Imam, 
reported November 27 that planning for Iraqi out-of-country 
voting in Syria is proceeding smoothly.  In mid-November, 
Imam signed an MOU with a SARG MFA official, Feisal Hamwi, 
the head of International Organizations, detailing plans for 
the joint effort.  Imam said that the International Office of 
Migration would not be involved in OCV for these elections. 
Baghdad has sent a representative, Sa'ad al-Samarai, to take 
the lead.  He has opened an office in the Damascus suburb of 
Mezzeh.  Samarai met on November 24 with his MFA counterpart 
and officials from other SARG ministries, including the 
Ministry of Interior.  Another meeting is scheduled for 
November 28. 
 
3.  (C) The voting is scheduled for December 13-15 at ten 
Syrian polling stations, all of them located in Damascus. 
(In the previous OCV, all polling stations were likewise 
located in Damascus.)  Imam expects some 30,000 Iraqis to 
vote in the elections, a number he described as "more than 
double" the number who voted this past January.  The 
successful first OCV one year ago, with little or no evidence 
that SARG authorities had used intelligence gathered from 
participation in the voting to harass or deport Iraqis living 
and working here illegally, had led Iraqis to feel more at 
ease about voting in the upcoming election, Imam said. 
 
4.  (C) NO PROGRESS ON RESUMING DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS:  On 
future diplomatic relations, Imam said there had been no 
significant developments, while expressing hope that the 
Syrians might move on this issue after the elections in Iraq. 
 He noted that after being summoned by DFM Walid Mu'allim 
several days ago to receive a letter from President Bashar 
al-Asad for Iraqi President Jamal Talabani, detailing Syrian 
efforts to cooperate with the UNIIIC investigation, he had 
raised the issue of diplomatic relations.  (Note:  He was 
following up on an Iraqi MFA recommendation that he sound out 
the SARG MFA, in the wake of Asad's reference in his November 
10 speech, about the possibility of re-establishing 
relations.) 
 
5.  (C) Mu'allim told Imam that the SARG did not want to 
resume diplomatic relations at the present time because it 
would appear that the government had succumbed to foreign 
pressure.   Instead, the SARG wanted to take such action 
during a visit to Syria by PM Ja'afari, where it would seem 
like a more natural development.  Imam reported that the 
Iraqi MFA Undersecretary for Administrative and Technical 
Affairs, Sa'ad al-Hayani, visited Damascus a few months ago 
in a move designed to fast-track the resumption of relations, 
but had been similarly brushed aside by Mu'allim.  Imam 
speculated that the Syrians want to proceed first on 
commercial issues and on other fronts with the Iraqis, and 
then on the issue of formal resumption of ties.  Imam said 
that he had recommended to his government that Iraq refuse 
such movement until the Syrians moved to re-establish ties. 
 
6.  (C) LESS THAN 200 IRAQI VISAS MONTHLY FOR SYRIANS: 
Imam's consular section only issues visas to Syrians to visit 
Iraq in two circumstances:  to Syrian male citizens who are 
married to Iraqis, as well as to to Syrian businessmen.  In 
both cases, the applicants must prove their bona fides with 
documentation.  For businessmen, that means a letter from the 
Syrian Chamber of Commerce and another from the MFA. 
 
7.  (C) In the month of October, the Iraqi Interest Section 
issued 181 visas to Syrians, 15 to businessmen and the rest 
to Syrian husbands of Iraqi women, reported Imam.  He added 
that he was not sure of the exact screening procedures at the 
border, but knew that Iraqi immigration officials, whether at 
the border or at Baghdad International Airport, verified that 
entering Syrians had a proper visa. 
 
SECHE