NEW ZEALAND ON IRAQ ASSISTANCE AND OCTOBER 13-14

UNCLAS WELLINGTON 000840 SIPDIS FOR EB/ODF, EB/IRAQ AND EAP/ANP E.O. 12356: N/A TAGS: EAID ECON EFIN PREL IZ NZ SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND ON IRAQ ASSISTANCE AND OCTOBER 13-14 TOKYO DONORS' MEETING REF: (A) STATE 196084; (B) WELLINGTON 420; (C) WELLINGTON 303 ¶1. The New Zealand government is not yet able to report whether it has disbursed the remainder of the NZ $5.5 million (U.S. $3.3 million) that it had pledged for Iraq assistance at the Madrid Donors' Conference, according to Matt Dalzell of the New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID). The government did not expend the remainder by June 30 as expected (ref B). To determine whether any of its pledge still must be disbursed, the government is waiting for its Defense Forces to account for the amount spent in Iraq by its engineering battalion from July 1 until its departure from Basra in late September. ¶2. Dalzell on October 5 also reported that his agency was working on a submission to government ministers on proposed funding for Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan. Thus, it was difficult to predict when New Zealand could announce its plans for future assistance to Iraq's reconstruction. ¶3. The charg at New Zealand's embassy in Tokyo, Michelle Slade, tentatively will represent her government at the October 13-14 donors' committee meeting in Tokyo. ¶4. Post delivered ref A talking points September 14 to NZAID. While the government's response is disappointingly slow, post will follow up. BURNETT