CANADA'S ATTENDANCE AT FORUM FOR THE FUTURE;

1. (U) Ambassador Cellucci delivered ref A demarche with
Moroccan Ambassador Mohammed Tange November 24 to Mark
Bailey, Acting Assistant Deputy Minister for Africa and the
Middle East. Ambassador Cellucci stressed the importance the
United States, and Secretary Powell personally, place on
high-level attendance at the Forum for the Future and urged
the GOC to make every effort for Foreign Minister Pettigrew
to attend. Bailey said that while several days ago it looked
unlikely that the FM could travel due to key votes in
Parliament (in the current minority Parliament every vote is
needed to pass legislation), it now appears more likely he
will be able to attend. Pettigrew has invited several
opposition legislators to accompany him to Morocco so that
his missing vote will be balanced out. Bailey said it
appears this will do the trick. Ambassador Tange said he
also hoped the Finance Minister would be able to attend the
parallel meetings on economic reform. Bailey responded that
the Minister would be unable to attend, but he will be
represented by Associate Deputy Minister Paul Booth. Bailey
said he would be attending the sub-cabinet meeting on
December 10. Keith Chang, CIDA,s Director General for North
Africa and the Middle East will also attend the main
conference.



2. (C) Ambassador then asked Bailey if there was any decision
on Canada,s taking a lead role in election monitoring in
Iraq. Bailey responded that his colleagues are looking at it
&feverishly.8 They are cautious about getting
overextended, however, having to balance competing
instructions by the Prime Minister to do anything possible to
help with the Palestinian elections. There are limited
resources for such missions, Bailey said, and Canada is
already heavily involved in several. He said the government
understands the importance of the Iraqi elections, however,
and indicated that Canada is looking for a way to be helpful.




3. (U) An article in today,s Globe and Mail was the first
public announcement that Canada is involved in talks about an
election monitoring role, and reported that &a formal
announcement could coincide with the official visit to Canada
next week of President George W. Bush.8 The article was a
factual rundown of the issue to date, and covered the hurdles
of security and preparation time as key impediments to Canada
taking on the mission.



4. (C) Comment: It sounds like FM Pettigrew will, in the end,
be able to attend the conference. If we do not have a firm
answer by the end of the week, however, this would be a good
item for discussion with the Secretary Powell when he travels
to Ottawa next week.

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CELLUCCI