FOLLOW-UP ON MADRID CONFERENCE DONORS FOR IRAQ

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 000501 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: 10/08/2013 TAGS: PREL ECON EAUD EUN SUBJECT: FOLLOW-UP ON MADRID CONFERENCE DONORS FOR IRAQ REF: A) 31782 ¶1. (SBU) DCM initially raised reftel points to MFA Assistant Under Secretary for Political Affairs Abdullah Rashid Al-Noaimi on February 14. According to Al-Noaimi, the UAEG has already disbursed the $215 million pledge made at Madrid, both in providing humanitarian assistance and on buying Siemans generators for power plants in Iraq. He did not provide any further details, but expected that the UAEG would provide further details on its assistance during the donors meeting. ¶2. (SBU) EconChief subsequently followed-up on the conversation with Ministry of Finance Assistant Undersecretary for Revenue and Budget Khalid Al-Bustani who confirmed that he thought the funds had been disbursed, but noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had the full figures on how, where, and how much. ¶3. (SBU) Comment: The way the UAE provides assistance has complicated our ability to obtain a complete picture of its overall assistance program. Much of the UAE's assistance is provided by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, which generally channels humanitarian assistance through the UAE Red Crescent and project assistance through the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development. As a result the UAE federal officials frequently do not have full disbursement details. Despite the generosity of UAE assistance to Iraq, the UAE prefers to provide its assistance bilaterally and has - so far - declined to donate to the UN trust fund on Iraq. The host of the Abu Dhabi donors' meeting is, therefore, not a member of the donors' committee. End Comment WAHBA