WikiLeaks Cablegate dokumentdetaljer
id
121867
newdate
2007-09-12 08:33
refid
07BAGHDAD3074
origin
Embassy Baghdad
classification
CONFIDENTIAL
destination
header
VZCZCXRO5071
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #3074/01 2550833
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 120833Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM PRIORITY 0017
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3341
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
content
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003074 SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2017
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, IZ, SW
SUBJECT: SWEDISH FOREIGN MINISTER–FOCUS ON IMMIGRATION–NO
IMMEDIATE PLANS FOR AN EMBASSY
Classified By: Classified by Political Counsellor Matthew H. Tueller for Reasons 1.4d/b
1. (C) SUMMARY. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, Immigration
Minister Tobias Billstrom, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director Bjorn
Lyrvall, and Swedish Ambassador to Iraq (stationed in Jordan) Niclas
Trouve discussed a wide range of political issues with Ambassador
Crocker and suggested Sweden would become more engaged in Iraq.
Immigration seemed to be Bildt´s primary concern; and while he touched
on internal, bilateral and multilateral issues, he did not once mention
the European Union. END SUMMARY.
—— ———————————————
Swedish Embassy in Baghdad-Lack of Funds and Return
Agreement Are Impediments
——- ———————————————
2. (C) In a September 2 breakfast meeting, Ambassador Crocker,
accompanied by Minister for Economic Affairs Charles Ries and
Political Counselor Matthew Tueller, told Foreign Minister Bildt
how pleased the GOI was with the Swedish FM,s visit. Bildt
explained he was in Baghdad to demonstrate Sweden,s support for recent
political progress and in particular the leaders, agreement. He
emphasized that he wanted to make Sweden relevant in Iraq, but told
us the GOS had no immediate plans to establish an embassy in
Baghdad. Bildt blamed this on budget constraints and lack of
progress on a return agreement for Iraqi refugees illegally in Sweden.
(NOTE: Bildt cancelled the Kurdistan leg of his trip over this issue, much to the displeasure of KRG President Massoud Barzani. Perhaps not coincidentally, a day before Bildt,s arrival, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani cancelled his Baghdad meeting with him. However, in a pre-trip video conference with Embassy Economic and Political Counselors, Bildt confirmed that a trip to Kurdistan was still on his agenda. END NOTE)
Bildt closed by saying once the GOS and the GOI conclude an
agreement, the GOS will move ahead with anEmbassy in Baghdad. Ambassador
Crocker offered logistical support to facilitate the operation.
——————————————–
Iraqi Immigrants A Major Concern For The GOS
——————————————–
3. (C) Foreign Minister Bildt estimated that approximately 100,000
Iraqis live in Sweden and told Ambassador Crocker that if the United
States accepted Iraqi asylees and refugees at the same pace, the US
would have over 500,000 Iraqi residents. He explained that the majority
were Kurds who fled the former regime,s persecution but stressed that
since 2003, most Iraqis arriving in Sweden were Arabs.
He said that in 2007, the GOS expected 20,000 asylum petitions and
would approve approximately 74 percent. The 26 percent not approved were
the reason Iraqi immigration had become a Swedish domestic issue and
that concluding a return agreement was critically important for the GOS.
Bildt observed that without a mechanism for returning illegal aliens,
the immigration problem would spiral out of control in a country of only
nine million inhabitants. Both the FM and Immigration Minister Tobias
Billstrom said recent arrivals were more difficult to assimilate because
they often arrive destitute (Billstrom estimated travel expenses alone
exceed USD 20,000), poorly educated, and without professional or
language skills. Bildt and Billstrom also mentioned several high profile
honor killings as prompting more calls for stronger immigration
policies from the Swedish public.
——- ———————————————
Kurdistan Air Incident-Probably Not A MANPAD Attack
——– ———————————————
4. (C) Bildt pressed Ambassadors Crocker and Ries for information on two
alleged man-portable air defense systems (MANPAD) attacks on Swedish
and Austrian airliners. Ambassador Crocker replied that the USAF had not
found the incidents adequate reason to change its designation of KRG
airspace, but he declined to rule out an attack because he said there
were no Coalition surveillance or warning (JSTAR/AWACS) assets in the
area at the time. However, after listing other factors, including MANPAD
range limits and the high quality of Kurdish security, the ambassador
told Bildt it was unlikely the aircraft had been attacked.
Ambassador Ries added that press reports indicated the Swedish carrier had regulatory problems with the KRG Civil Aviation authority, and wondered if it was a coincidence that the flight allegedly attacked was the final one scheduled to fly the route. Ambassador Trouve confirmed the carrier,sdifficulties but thought it was unlikely they would stage the incident. In an aside echoing the immigration issue, Lyrvall pointed out that the Erbil route had become among the most profitable for both companies.
BAGHDAD 00003074 002 OF 002
——–
COMMENT
——–
5. (C) Bildt has clearly mastered the Iraq brief and appeared serious
when he told us he wants a more robust Swedish presence here. His focus
on immigration and the fact that he did not mention the European Union
at all suggests that domestic political imperatives drove his mission.
As the GOS follows up this trip (as we expect it will) with aKRG visit
and other activities, Embassy Baghdad will continue to provide support.
In a final example of the Embassy,s substantial logistical assistance,
Foreign Minister Bildt accepted Ambassador´s Crocker and MNF-I´s offer
to use Coalition air assets to depart Baghdad after Royal Jordanian
cancelled his flight.
BUTENIS