UNAMI OFFICIALS HINT DEPUTY SRSG FOR IRAQ WILL BE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000479

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR IO, NEA AND PRM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/20/2014
TAGS: PREL EAID ASEC IZ JO UNSC
SUBJECT: UNAMI OFFICIALS HINT DEPUTY SRSG FOR IRAQ WILL BE
BASED IN AMMAN; UPDATE UN SECURITY AND STRATEGIC PLANNING
ISSUES


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


1. (C) Summary: Although the UN has not yet decided where
to base Deputy Special Representative for Iraq Ross Mountain,
UNAMI staff have been instructed to establish a 17-person
"coordination cell" to support his activities in Amman.
Mountain will oversee UN operational and program issues in
Iraq and will begin a visit to Amman on January 28. UNAMI
expects Mountain will push for an "early" trip to Iraq.
UNAMI reported that the UN interagency security mission to
Iraq will focus on bringing one installation -- likely the
Canal Hotel -- up to UN security standards to facilitate the
reentry of international staff to Iraq, but UNHCR reported
that UNSECOORD will focus on reentry to Basra. UNAMI expects
UNHAS to resume flights to Iraq at the end of January.
UNAMI's nearly complete strategic plan for Iraq awaits
political guidance from UN NY, while program-focused UN
agencies are turning to international NGOs and private
contractors to deliver services in Iraq. End summary.

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SRSG Brahimi and Deputy SRSG Mountain:
Cyprus/Amman Split and a Possible Trip to Iraq?
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2. (C) UNAMI Humanitarian Officers Maggs Mac Guinness and
Maura Lynch (protect) reviewed still-evolving UNAMI
operational plans with visiting PRM and CPA officers and
regional refcoord on January 18. According to Mac Guinness,
UN Special Representative for Iraq Lakhdar Brahimi will focus
on the UN's broader political role and human rights issues
and Deputy SRSG Ross Mountain will focus on operational and
program issues. While SRSG Brahimi will be based in the UN
protected zone in Cyprus, UNSYG Annan has not yet decided
where Deputy SRSG Mountain will be based. UNAMI staff expect
that Mountain will spend a great deal of time in Amman, as
they have been instructed to set up a 17-person "coordination
cell" in Amman to support the Deputy SRSG's activities. Mac
Guinness said program-focused UN agencies had argued
unsuccessfully that both Brahimi and Mountain should be based
in Amman in order to maintain access to Iraq and the UN's
humanitarian partners, access viewed by agencies as key to UN
"credibility" in Iraq. UN agencies, according to Mac
Guinness, were deeply disappointed by the SYG's decision to
locate the SRSG in Cyprus.


3. (C) Until SRSG Brahimi is "fully up and running," Deputy
SRSG Mountain is expected to spend most of his time in
Cyprus. Mac Guinness said Mountain will arrive in Cyprus on
January 24 but will make a short trip to Amman beginning on
January 28. She was unsure where Mountain would be based in
Amman, as none of the UN buildings in Amman meet Minimum
Operating Security Standards (MOSS). Mac Guinness predicted
that Mountain would also push UNSYG Annan to permit him to
make an "early" trip to Baghdad.

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Security Mission to Iraq,
Resumption of UNHAS Flights
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4. (C) As reported in the press, a UN interagency security
mission is expected to go to Iraq soon to conduct an
assessment of UN installations' MOSS compliance. According
to Mac Guinness, the four-person team will focus on bringing
one Baghdad installation -- most likely the Canal Hotel -- up
to MOSS compliance in order to serve as the focal point for
the gradual re-entry of UN staff. The team will also look at
UN installations in the north and south. (In a separate
January 18 meeting, UNHCR/Iraq Chief of Mission Yacoub El
Hillo reported that UNSECOORD also would lead an interagency
security assessment to Basra, focused on bringing a facility
near the port to MOSS compliance in order to serve as a base
for UN staff.) Mac Guinness added that the UN had received
funding from the European Union to complete security upgrades
to UN installations in Iraq, while the UK's Department for
International Development provided funding for staff security
training.


5. (C) In a separate security development, Mac Guinness
reported that the UN's C-130 (on loan from the Netherlands)
had been upgraded with further anti-missile capabilities and
was due to resume Amman-Baghdad flights at the end of
January. The UNHAS Beechcraft (currently being used to
respond to the Bam earthquake) also is due to resume flights
to northern Iraq at the end of January.

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Strategic Plan Needs Political Framework
While UN Programs Continue with NGOs and Contractors
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6. (C) Mac Guinness said that work on the programming
aspects of the UN's strategic plan for Iraq was nearly
complete but that decisions had not yet been made in NY
regarding the UN's overall political role in Iraq. Without
that overarching framework, she said, the UN's strategic plan
was simply a list of activities. And even if the UN came to
agreement on its role following UNSYG Annan's January 19
meeting with Ambassador Bremer and the Iraqi Governing
Council, any planning documents would constitute at best a
"rolling strategy." Who knows, Mac Guinness mused, what the
UN's role in Iraq would be after June 30?


7. (C) In the meantime, UN agencies are finding new ways to
deliver services in Iraq. In addition to using international
NGOs as implementing partners, the UN also is hiring private
contractors to deliver services. UNICEF, for example, has
engaged 800 contractors to deliver assistance. Mac Guinness
added that many ex-UNOCHI staff (let go after completion of
the Oil-for-Food program) have started new private companies
to fill the void left by UN agencies.


8. (U) CPA Baghdad minimize considered.
GNEHM