IRAQI CIVIL SERVANTS AND NGO REPS TRAIN IN SLOVAKIA

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000302

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV LO IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQI CIVIL SERVANTS AND NGO REPS TRAIN IN SLOVAKIA

REF: 04 Bratislava 991

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PROTECT ACCORDINGLY


1. (U) Through a grant from the International Republican
Institute (IRI),the Pontis Foundation brought nine Iraqi
civil servants and NGO leaders to Slovakia for three weeks
in March. This was the second group of four planned. It
consisted of one IRI-Baghdad employee, two NGO, four
Ministry of Education, and two MFA representatives. This is
part of an on-going IRI/Pontis-sponsored program to expose
Iraqi civil servants and NGO representatives the experience
of a country that recently navigated a democratic transition
(reftel).


2. (U) The MFA and Ministry of Education (MOE) will sign
an agreement on future cooperation with Iraqi ministries to
share the transition experience. Pontis will bring the
third group of Iraqis to Slovakia April 21. The group will
consist of one IRI-Baghdad employee, three politicians,
three Iraqi MFA officials, and three NGO representatives.
By the end of the four sponsored visits, Pontis will have
brought 32 Iraqi civil servants and NGO representatives to
Slovakia for training.


3. (U) Five members of the delegation described their
experiences positively at the March 23 IRI/Pontis "Young
Iraqi Leaders in Slovakia" forum. Iraqi participants
included Hisham A. Mohammed and Allaa M.O. Al-Shamari from
the Iraqi MFA, Seba K. Abbas Kamas from the Iraqi Ministry
of Higher Education, Salim Kh. Saad from the NGO Students
Against War, and Dr. Yasser Hussain from the NGO Iraqi
Doctors. Participants spent one week each at the Slovak
MFA, Slovak MOE, and various NGOs. All participants
appreciated the IRI/Pontis program, saying it was a useful
and practical experience.


4. (U) Mohammed made a short introductory presentation at
the Forum where he described optimistically the next steps
in Iraq, including the new constitution and next elections.
Participants discussed the practical application of the
constitution and potential changes to the current
proportional electoral system to a majoritarian system.
They confidently argued that Iraq has a five-thousand year
tradition, so Iraqi experts and lawyers could easily draft a
constitution. They reacted strongly against an assertion by
an audience member that Paul Bremmer prepared the current
election law, emphasizing the role of the Iraqi Supreme
Election Commission. They recognized the current law might
be improved but was adequate for now.


5. (SBU) Salim Saad told emboff privately that it is much
more useful to come to a country like Slovakia, which is
small and recently went through a democratic transition,
than to go to a big city like London where the legal system
has been in place for a long time. Each of the Iraqi
participants said that learning about the Slovak experience
with NGOs was the most useful part of the training. They
noted the role of NGOs is new to them and were impressed by
how NGOs serve as mediators between the people and the
government. The discussion about the watchdog role of NGOs
seemed to be especially valuable. Salim said the U.S. is
providing most of the funding to Iraqi NGOs; only relatively
small contributions come from Europe. He noted the need for
more donors. Hussain presented his NGO, Iraqi Doctors,
noting the organization originally focused on health care
but switched to democracy building before the elections.


6. (SBU) COMMENT. The group was energetic, capable, and
idealistic. The discussion was optimistic and forward-
looking. Participants seemed determined to make their
country a democratic success and benefited greatly from the
program in Slovakia. The 27-year old Hussain particularly
impressed emboffs and the Pontis organizers as a future
leader with his frank and energetic, can-do approach. END
COMMENT. MINIMIZE CONSIDERED

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