UN/IRAQ AGENCIES IN JORDAN: ADRIFT WITHOUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 007646

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR IO, NEA AND PRM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/23/2013
TAGS: PREL EAID ASEC IZ JO
SUBJECT: UN/IRAQ AGENCIES IN JORDAN: ADRIFT WITHOUT
MISSION OR LEADERSHIP


Classified By: DCM David Hale per 1.5 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Following the August 19 and September 20 attacks on
UN installations in Baghdad, more than 400 UN international
staff relocated from Baghdad to Amman, bringing the total
number of UN international staff here to more than 500. The
number of UN international staff should drop significantly
after the Oil-For-Food handover, but likely will hover around

300. Individual UN agencies seem to be engaged appropriately
with their counterparts from CPA and Iraqi ministries,
staying in touch via e-mail and holding meetings here in
Amman. As a whole however, the UN mission in general and
UNAMI in particular seem adrift, unsure of their ultimate
mission in Iraq and even the location from which they will
operate for the foreseeable future.


2. (C) In a November 18 discussion with refcoord, UNAMI NGO
coordinator Maura Lynch (protect) portrayed a UN Iraq country
team in policy and managerial disarray. Although the UN Iraq
team held a meeting in Cyprus November 3-8 to discuss next
steps for programming, no decisions were made regarding the
UN's role in Iraq, the conditions required to send
international staff back to Iraq, or even where "virtual"
offices should be located until UN agencies can resume full
operations in Iraq. Consensus among working level staff,
according to Lynch, is that UN political offices should
relocate to Cyprus, while operational programs should remain
in Amman where they would have proximity to NGOs and other
humanitarian organizations. However, UN NY leadership, UN
Jordan country team members and even GOJ officials are
increasingly nervous about the security risks posed by large
numbers of UN international staff in Jordan. "If they can't
get us in Iraq," as Lynch paraphrased UN NY's concerns,
"what's stop them from targeting us in Jordan?" For these
reasons, Lynch said, many UN Headquarters officials are
pressing for the entire UN Iraq team to relocate to Larnaca,
Cyprus. The decision regarding the Iraq team's ultimate
location will be made by UN NY.


3. (C) Lynch commented that the UN's tough policy and
administrative decisions are made all the more difficult by
the absence of leadership for the Iraq country team. UNSYG
Annan has not yet appointed a new Special Representative for
Iraq and the Deputy position, held by Ramiro Lopes da Silva,
was not filled after da Silva became the Acting Special
Representative following Sergio Viero de Mello's death. Now
that da Silva is on administrative leave for the duration of
the ongoing security investigation, Lynch said, the Iraq team
has neither a Head of Mission, a deputy nor even an acting
deputy.


4. (U) Visit Embassy Amman's classified website at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/or access the site
through the State Department's SIPRNET home page.


5. (U) CPA Baghdad minimize considered.
GNEHM