US embassy cable - 03ABUJA1096

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 001096 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
AF/W FOR DAN EPSTEIN 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/24/2012 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, MARR, MOPS, KTIA, NI, KICC 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: ARTILCE 98 PROSPECTS LOOKING UP BUT IT'S 
NOT A DONE DEAL YET 
 
REF: (A) STATE 144906 
(B) STATE 139892 
(C) ABUJA 1033 
(D) ABUJA 1025 
(E) ABUJA 989 
(F) ABUJA 905 
	(G) ABUJA 552 
	(H) ABUJA 342 
	(I) 02 ABUJA 2978 
 (J) 02 ABUJA 2972 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY A/DCM BRIAN L. BROWNE; REASONS 1.5 (B) AND 
(D). 
 
 
1.  (C) The ad-hoc inter-ministerial committee tasked by 
President Obasanjo to review our proposed Article 98 
agreement met Tuesday, June 17.  According to a source from 
the Foreign Ministry who attended the session, committee 
members decided to recommend to President Obasanjo that 
Nigeria conclude an Article 98 agreement with the U.S.  We 
were informed that a position paper was being prepared, 
forwarding the committee's positive recommendation to 
Obasanjo.  While the recommendation was positive, the 
committee's report would also present some questions about 
Article 98 that committee members believed needed to be 
addressed before Nigeria signed an agreement.  We were not 
told what those questions might be, but understand that the 
GON would forward the questions to us once Obasanjo has 
reviewed the committee's report. 
 
 
2.  (C) We do not know if the committee's report has been 
forwarded to the President, but the Nigerians are well 
aware of the July 1 deadline. 
 
 
3.  (C) In our recent meeting with President Obasanjo, he 
reiterated his desire to see the issue "behind him." 
Obasanjo also asserted that if Article 98 could protect a 
Nigerian peacekeeper being brought before the ICC he would 
support signing an agreement.  While the Nigerians have not 
provided formal notification that they would sign an 
Article 98 agreement, the news of the committee's 
recommendation and its consistency with the President's 
statements of support make the prospects for a timely 
Article 98 agreement look significantly better than they 
did several weeks ago. 
JETER