Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03KUWAIT1969
2003-05-10 15:43:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:  

TFIZ01: DART ASSESSMENT OF ANAH AND KHAN AL

Tags:  EAID PREF IZ WFP 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KUWAIT 001969 

SIPDIS

STATE ALSO PASS USAID/W
STATE PLEASE REPEAT TO IO COLLECTIVE
STATE FOR PRM/ANE, EUR/SE, NEA/NGA, IO AND SA/PAB
NSC FOR EABRAMS, SMCCORMICK, STAHIR-KHELI, JDWORKEN
USAID FOR USAID/A, DCHA/AA, DCHA/RMT, DCHA/FFP
USAID FOR DCHA/OTI, DCHA/DG, ANE/AA
USAID FOR DCHA/OFDA:WGARVELINK, BMCCONNELL, KFARNSWORTH
USAID FOR ANE/AA:WCHAMBERLIN
ROME FOR FODAG
GENEVA FOR RMA AND NKYLOH
DOHA FOR MSHIRLEY
ANKARA FOR AMB WRPEARSON, ECON AJSIROTIC AND DART
AMMAN FOR USAID AND DART

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PREF IZ WFP
SUBJECT: TFIZ01: DART ASSESSMENT OF ANAH AND KHAN AL
BAGHDADI

-------
SUMMARY
-------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KUWAIT 001969

SIPDIS

STATE ALSO PASS USAID/W
STATE PLEASE REPEAT TO IO COLLECTIVE
STATE FOR PRM/ANE, EUR/SE, NEA/NGA, IO AND SA/PAB
NSC FOR EABRAMS, SMCCORMICK, STAHIR-KHELI, JDWORKEN
USAID FOR USAID/A, DCHA/AA, DCHA/RMT, DCHA/FFP
USAID FOR DCHA/OTI, DCHA/DG, ANE/AA
USAID FOR DCHA/OFDA:WGARVELINK, BMCCONNELL, KFARNSWORTH
USAID FOR ANE/AA:WCHAMBERLIN
ROME FOR FODAG
GENEVA FOR RMA AND NKYLOH
DOHA FOR MSHIRLEY
ANKARA FOR AMB WRPEARSON, ECON AJSIROTIC AND DART
AMMAN FOR USAID AND DART

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PREF IZ WFP
SUBJECT: TFIZ01: DART ASSESSMENT OF ANAH AND KHAN AL
BAGHDADI

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. DART Field Team West conducted an assessment of the
village of Anah on 28 April. Although the visit was
abbreviated, the DART was in town long enough to determine
that electricity was functioning, water was flowing in the
piped system, the PDS was in place and functioning, and the
health center was in good condition with full staff and
adequate supplies to meet emergency needs. On the return to
Ar Rutbah, the DART stopped in the village of Bagrami and
spoke briefly to some of the inhabitants. Also on 28 April,
the DART met with World Vision staff in Ar Rutbah to discuss
possible projects in the health sector. End Summary.

--------------
GENERAL CONDITIONS IN ANAH
--------------


2. Anah is located adjacent to the Euphrates River on the
main road between Ar Ramadi and Al Qa'im, along the Syrian
border. Anah is a planned community of between 12,000-
15,000 people living in houses that were constructed in

1986. The Wakil (public distribution system agent) stated
that the population of Anah had been forced to relocate to
this present location from its original site due to the
construction of the hydroelectric dam at Al Qadisia. The
old village is now underwater.


3. According to the town's hospital director, 20 civilians
were killed during the war and 10 to 15 were injured. These
injuries and deaths occurred on the road to the Syrian
border. The doctor reported that Anah's post office was hit
by an aerial bomb, but the DART was not able to verify this
information. The main bridge leading to the town from the
east was also reportedly hit. In contrast, the Wakil stated
that Anah had not witnessed military action and there was no
damage to the town caused by the conflict.


4. Until water returned to pre-war levels on 28 April,
generators pumped water in the town for four hours a day.

Electricity also returned to full strength on 28 April,
generated by the Al Qadisiy dam in Haditha. Conditions are
"near normal," according to the hospital director. Still,
post-conflict problems exist. The hospital director listed
Anah's top four problems as reduced security, no inter-city
communications, the destroyed bridge, and no propane cooking
fuel, although there is sufficient and affordable kerosene
gas. The hospital director said that ministry employees
have not been paid since before the war. They have heard
via television messages that staff would be paid by the end
of the month. Food prices have increased since the war
began while selection has decreased because of diminished
supply lines with Baghdad.


5. The town has formed a group of seven to ten elders to
"manage" services. Their influence is questionable. Anah
has established a lightly armed security force for
protection against looters. The reduced police force has
limited impact. Despite this vacuum, the town did not face
looting because residents prevented opportunistic outsiders
from entering. The hospital has guards armed with machine
guns. Surrounding villages, however, have crime, and the
road from Anah to Haditha has had problems with car thieves.


6. None of Anah's schools are operating, and it is unclear
when they will reopen. The town is awaiting word from Ar
Ramadi before classes reconvene. The town has four primary
schools, with boys attending in the morning and girls in the
afternoon. There is one intermediate school for boys and
one for girls, and an unknown number of high schools.

--------------
FOOD IN ANAH
--------------


7. According to a Wahil in Anah, the PDS system is
functioning and food supplies are adequate. Their most
recent delivery on 26 April was the first since the war
started. It included full rations of sugar, detergent, and
soap, and half rations of oil, beans, and flour. They also
received one-quarter ration of milk. Anah receives its food
from the warehouses in Ar Ramadi and is served by 32 Wakils
and 14 flour agents.

--------------
HEALTH CONDITIONS IN ANAH
--------------


8. Electricity and running water returned to pre-war levels
at the Anah General Hospital and to the entire city of Anah
on 28 April, according to the hospital director Dr. Tarik.
The hospital is the only health facility for the town's
15,000 residents and the neighboring village's 2,000
inhabitants. There are 10 doctors, one of whom is a woman,
and three nurses. The only pharmacy is at the hospital, and
there is no nutrition rehabilitation center.


9. According to the hospital director, the hospital's drug
supply will last for roughly one more month. The staff has
already begun to economize. "If a patient needs three
items," the director said, "we give him two." Prior to the
war, the hospital maintained an adequate supply by ordering
a two-month supply of drugs from the governorate
pharmaceutical hub in Ar Ramadi. Oxygen, too, is short, and
is likely to run out in two weeks. Over the last two weeks,
MSF-Switzerland made two visits to the Anah Hospital from
Damascus and promised to deliver essential drugs within two
weeks.


10. Malnutrition is a "problem," according to the
hospital's director, especially for children from the
surrounding villages. One month ago, the hospital received
a supply of therapeutic milk from CARE, but it has since run
out. Acutely malnourished children are now transferred to
Ar Ramadi, 130 kilometers (km) away.


11. Among children, gastro-intestinal cases are the primary
concern, with a slight increase since the war and an
expectation of a further increase with the onset of warmer
temperatures. During the colder months, upper respiratory
infections are the biggest problem. The hospital director
said whooping cough was also prominent in the area with one
to two cases reported per week and a small increase since
the war.

--------------
SECURITY
--------------


12. Anah's population is notably religious and clearly
apprehensive in the presence of foreign assessment teams.
The DART split in two, one to look at food, the other to
look at health. One town elder made a particular point
to the food team that the town had produced numerous
government officials who had served in the former government
and that the people of Anah were proud of this statistic.
At the end of their discussion, the DART's
driver/interpreter noted several antagonistic discussions
among the group near the vehicle. DART ended the discussion
and vacated the area.


13. Upon departing the hospital, the health team noticed
two guards armed with machine guns. A man approached the
DART vehicle with a 250 dinar note. "Take this," he said,
"This is a souvenir from Saddam. Saddam will come back.
Allah won't let us down. After things settle down,
Saddam will resurface and kick you (Coalition) out. Saddam
was bad, but he was better than you. It's better to have a
bad Muslim than you."


14. The DART regrouped and left town immediately with no
further incident.

--------------
GENERAL CONDITIONS IN KHAN AL BAGHDADI
--------------


15. Khan Al Baghdadi, population 18,000, is midway between
Heet and Haditha on the Euphrates River. The town has 18
schools, some with former Baath Party teachers afraid to
return to the schools, according to a Turkman English
teacher from Al Baghdadi. The schools remained closed
because staff and teachers await instructions to open the
schools from the Ministry of Education, or a government
official, or anyone it seems except for someone within their
own ranks.

16. The English teacher said there was "peace" in town now
and no problems. The electrical supply is now at pre-war
levels. During the war it ran sporadically. Water, he
said, had always come from the adjacent Euphrates
River and was not problematic. The teacher mentioned that
he wanted five things for his town: security, peace, an
improved hospital, freedom, and democracy.


17. The teacher and his family escaped to Khan Al Baghdadi
in 1987 from Government of Iraq-directed terror in the
northern governorates. His family now runs a restaurant
along the Euphrates. They do not receive food rations
because they left their family's card with relatives who
remained in the north. He said that one former Khan Al
Baghdadi teacher recently returned to town following six
years in Libya when he heard Saddam Hussein was gone.


18. Prior to the war, the town had 25 to 30 police
officers. There are now three. The hospital is small with
only one doctor and two assistants because residents rely on
the Ar Ramadi hospital about 50 kms away.

--------------
MEETING WITH WORLD VISION INTERNATIONAL
--------------


19. In Ar Rutbah, the DART met with World Vision
International (WVI) staff to discuss immediate needs in the
health sector for Ar Rutbah. WVI delivered some non-food
items and medical supplies to the clinic on 27 April. WVI
is interested in possibly submitting an implementation plan
to DART under its cooperative agreement. WVI expressed
interest in supporting the clinic and working with local
health officials to put in a temporary facility to replace
the hospital, which was destroyed by Coalition bombing. WVI
also expressed interest in health education focusing on
unexploded ordnance (UXO) awareness. UXOs are
a major problem in Ar Rutbah. Twelve people have been
seriously injured since the end of the war in UXO-related
incidents in Ar Rutbah.

JONES