IRAQI RECONSTRUCTION: CANADA OFFERS AIR TRANSPORT,

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 001190 SIPDIS STATE FOR PMAT, INL, EB, NEA, AND WHA/CAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2013 TAGS: PREL MOPS EAID KCRM KJUS IZ CA SUBJECT: IRAQI RECONSTRUCTION: CANADA OFFERS AIR TRANSPORT, DART ENGINEERS AND CIVILIAN POLICE REF: (A) OTTAWA 1161 AND PREVIOUS (B) STATE 98807 (C) STATE 102473 Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Stephen R. Kelly, Reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Canadian Prime Minister Chretien issued an Iraqi reconstruction press release on April 29, announcing that Canada is ready to make available elements of its Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART); Canadian transport aircraft to support humanitarian assistance efforts and reconstruction material movement; and police, corrections and legal assistance. The transport aircraft would be drawn from three CC130 Hercules aircraft already deployed in theater as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Chretien also discussed these offers during a press conference following a Cabinet meeting later in the day. Alex Himelfarb, Clerk of the Privy Council, told DCM that Chretien decided over the weekend not to wait for the April 29 Cabinet meeting to respond to our requests, and that his decision was unequivocal. ¶2. (C) Just prior to the press release, Jill Sinclair, Foreign Affairs Director General for International Security, informed DCM of the Canadian decision on military assistance, and presented him with a paper on "Canadian Support for Reconstruction in Iraq" (faxed to WHA/CAN). In addition to the military and police contributions, the paper notes that the GoC is considering contributions to the rehabilitation of health, water and sanitation systems of Iraq, and increasing its US$3.5 million contribution to the UN Mine Action Service for Iraq. ¶3. (C) The GoC paper welcomes the "early efforts on the part of the occupying powers to work with Iraqis to establish an interim authority," and calls for the international community to play in important role. On the UN, the paper notes Canada's support for UNSC resolutions which would facilitate the flow of donor assistance, provide legitimacy to an Iraqi interim authority, and provide a multilateral framework for "ongoing reconstruction assistance." Sinclair reiterated, however, that Canada will take a pragmatic approach to reconstruction assistance. ¶4. (C) Sinclair said that while the GoC has already taken the decision on its military offer for post-conflict Iraq, the Cabinet still needs to make a final decision on the levels and sources of funding for civil assistance. She expected final decisions to be taken at the May 6 Cabinet meeting. Sinclair reiterated strong GoC interest in participating in the "justice sector" assessment team visit to Iraq beginning May 8. She noted that the Canadian Government requires a site visit before deployment of Canadian police teams abroad, and that it would greatly expedite getting Canadian police on the ground if Canada could be there with the U.S. and other national representatives. Canada would propose to send two RCMP officers for the assessment visit, one with a corrections background and the other with a justice background. ¶5. (C) COMMENT: The PMO's message was more positive and straightforward than the message we received from Foreign Affairs, and more in line with what we had been expecting. Canada is offering the types of support we had expected for post-conflict Iraq, plus a bit more with the DART engineers. Canada will now want to hear from us, as soon as possible, on how to best incorporate these offers with what we and other coalition partners are doing. In the first instance, we strongly encourage a positive response to the Canadian request to be included on the police assessment team visit to Iraq. CELLUCCI