Cable No. 1203 from Ambassador Nonoyama Tadayuki (Jordan) to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, 'Prime Minister Kaifu's Meeting With First Deputy Prime Minister Ramadan (Briefing for Accompanying Reporters)'

Telegraphic Copy                    [blacked out]               08-059

Prime Minister Kaifu's Meeting With First Deputy Prime Minister Ramadan (Briefing for Accompanying Reporters)

No. 1203         Top Urgent      [blacked out]

1. The main points of Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau Director Watanabe Makoto’s briefing on the above-mentioned meeting that took place on October 4 were as follows:

(1) The above-mentioned meeting took place from about 8 o’clock to 9:45 in the morning of October 4 in the palace. Present from the other side were Nizar Hamdoon, Deputy Foreign Minister; Abdul Hamid, Director, First Political Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Raui [phonetic transliteration, possibly Rawi], Chief of Protocol. Present from our side were Owada Hisashi, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs; myself (Bureau Director Watanabe); and Katakura Kunio, Ambassador to Iraq.

(2) Main Points of Meeting

The Prime Minister said that the entire international community agrees that the invasion of another country by military force is unacceptable and that Iraq must withdraw from Kuwait, restore Kuwait’s legitimate government, and restore the freedom of all the foreigners. The Prime Minister called on Iraq to make a decision for those purposes. The Prime Minister repeatedly stated that only when Iraq carries out the above-mentioned actions will there arise the opportunity of talks for peace. 

The Iraqi side repeatedly argued in response that: (1) Kuwait is historically Iraq’s territory. (2) Plotting against Iraq has taken place internationally after the Iran-Iraq War. (3) The intervention of foreign powers after the incident occurred has made settling the issue difficult. (4) Security Council resolutions exist for issues other than this one, but those issues have not been settled and the Palestinian and other issues should be settled at the same time. Also, regarding the detained foreigners, the Iraqi side stated the position that they have been making so far: they are guests for the sake of peace.

Also, the meeting ended with the position of both the Japanese and Iraqi sides being a desire to hear of a path to political dialogue.

(3) Detailed Explanation

(A) The Prime Minister stated: “There has existed between Japan and Iraq for some time now relations that include economic and technical cooperation. With the war between Iran and Iraq over, when it was time to resume new cooperative relations, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait took place. I am deeply, deeply concerned about the present situation. At a time when the world is searching for a new order following the end of the conflict between East and West and the Cold War, this incident happened. The international community has said that it will not accept the annexation of another country by force, as this would lead to the destruction of the international order.  First and foremost, I would like to ask Iran to make a great decision: to withdraw from Kuwait, restore Kuwait’s legitimate government, and restore the freedom of all the foreigners. Only when Iraq makes a decision on this will there arise the opportunity of talks for peace.”

(B) In response, Deputy Prime Minister Ramadan, saying that he wished the Prime Minister to know the facts about origin and the background of the present incident gave the following explanation:

(i) Kuwait was historically part of Iraq. However, because of British imperialism and after that the position of the Kuwaiti government, it was taken from Iraq. After Kuwait’s independence, Iraq did not recognize Kuwait’s borders. Iraq asserted within Iraq and abroad that Kuwait should be annexed by Iraq. During the Iran-Iraq War, Kuwait even tried to use the war to seize territory from Iraq.

(ii) With the end of the Iran-Iraq War, there began a campaign against Iraq by Israel, the United States, and Europe. For example, there has been a campaign to criticize Iraq’s efforts to acquire chemical weapons and the latest weapons, as well as to criticize Iraq for inhumane acts. This was connected to economic activities taken against Iraq. It became a move to lower the price of oil; Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates went along with it. As oil is Iraq’s sole source of income, this became a terrible problem, leading in the end to the incident of August 2.

(iii) Talks following the incident of August 2 to settle the issue within an Arab framework were progressing when the United States very quickly decided to send troops and impose economic sanctions. This became an obstacle to settling the issue. The situation has now expanded to the point that a global war may occur. A political settlement is impossible under a military threat from anti-Arab forces.

(iv) There have been Security Council resolutions on a certain country’s invasion of another country, but none of these have been enforced. The international treatment of this incident and these other incidents is too different.

(C) Furthermore, Deputy Prime Minister Ramadan stated the following:

(i) The Prime Minister has spoken of the detention of Americans, but these people are not what one would call hostages. Iraq is hosting those detained from countries that are engaged in actions against Iraq but is doing so for a peaceful objective.

(ii) Iraq appreciates the so-called French proposal as a start. Iraq would like to follow up on this as the start of a peaceful settlement.

(iii) If war should occur, it would be very tragic. The United States may make gains at first, but it would suffer widespread losses in the world.   

(D) In reply to the above, the Prime Minister stated the following:

(i) I have been aware of what you have just said from the reports that I have received. What I would like to say is that, in the order of the international community, the settling of bilateral conflicts by military force, whatever their background or origin, cannot be accepted. Iraq should understand that this is the position not only of the United States but of the international community. In order to change this situation, Iraq needs to withdraw from Kuwait, recognize the restoration of Kuwait’s legitimate government, and restore the freedom of all the foreigners. 

(ii) Restoring the freedom of all foreigners is a matter of principle. Speaking in particular regarding the Japanese there, they are persons who participated in Iraq’s economic construction and development. Detaining them is unacceptable.

(iii) Only when Iraq makes a decision and returns to the international community will we be able to have discussions regarding peace in the Middle East and other important global issues.

(E) The Prime Minister stated that he did not think that political dialogue with Iraq was something that ended that day. In reply, the other side responded in saying, “I hope to continue the political dialogue. I would like to proceed in that political dialogue to discuss the issue of the Iraqis who now lack supplies, the issue of Palestine, and many other issues. Iraq does not want war. That is because war will bring terrible losses.”

In reply, the Prime Minister further said: “Japan has adopted as its own position that settling international conflicts by military force is unacceptable. Japan, adopting the position that the present situation must be settled in a just and peaceful manner, is making every effort it can towards that end. In particular, Japan cannot accept Iraq, in contravention of a basic principle of the international community, detaining foreigners against their will. Attempting to settle the conflict with Kuwait by military force is unacceptable. All of this started from Iraq’s actions on August 2. Therefore, Iraq should, following the United Nations resolutions, return the situation to where it was before August 2.” With that, he ended the meeting.

2. The question-and-answer period was as follows:

(Question) Are you saying that the two sides agreed on continuing the bilateral dialogue?

(Bureau Director) Rather than saying that we agreed, both sides expressed the hope to continue the dialogue.

(Question) How did Prime Minister Kaifu respond when Iraq mentioned the Mitterand proposal?

(Bureau Director) Iraq touched on it in the middle of a long talk, so I did not feel that the Prime Minister addressed it much. The Prime Minister did not directly give an answer regarding it.

(Question) Was there any letter or message from President Hussein?

(Bureau Director) No, there was not.

(Question) How was the atmosphere?

(Bureau Director) Each side spoke seriously to the other.

(Question) The Prime Minister referred to the detained Japanese, but did his statement include the Japanese in Iraq or did he mean the hostages in Kuwait?

(Bureau Director) The Prime Minister spoke of persons who had contributed to the country’s economic construction and development but did not clearly distinguish between Kuwait and Iraq. I think that the Prime Minister was thinking, on the whole, of those detained in Iraq.

(Question) Was there talk regarding the timing of the next political dialogue?

(Bureau Director) There was no specific talk about that.

(Question) Was there no nuanced statement from the Iraqi side on letting the hostages go?

(Bureau Director) No such statement came from that side.

(Question) The Prime Minister did not speak of the phased release of the sick and others?

(Bureau Director) He did not.

(Question) What was the reason for the meeting going nearly one hour over its scheduled time?

(Bureau Director) There was no particular reason. One was that it took time for the Arabic interpreting and, in addition, we extended the time, at any rate, in an effort to fully discuss the issues.

(Question) So the meeting was prolonged because each side said to the other what it wished to say?

(Bureau Director) Basically, from beginning to end it was each side stating to the other its respective position.

(Question) Was there a break during the meeting?

(Bureau Director) There was not.

(Question) Was there mention from the other side of Japan’s support to the multinational force?

(Bureau Director) There was no specific mention of it.

(Question) Was the speaking time the same for the Japanese and Iraqi sides?

(Bureau Director) It was about the same.

Passed to the Embassy in Iraq.

(End)