IRAQ CONFERENCE CORE-GROUP PLANNING MEETING IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 004309 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/07/2015 TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID EIND ECON EG IZ RS EUN SUBJECT: IRAQ CONFERENCE CORE-GROUP PLANNING MEETING IN CAIRO JUNE 1-2, VISIT OF AMBASSADOR RICHARD JONES REF: A. STATE 103222 ¶B. STATE 93742 ¶C. CAIRO 4125 (NOTAL) Classified by Charge Gordon Gray for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Steering Group members (U.S., EU, Iraq, Japan, UN, Egypt, and Russia) met in Cairo June 2 to coordinate planning for a June 22 Ministerial meeting on Iraq to be held in Brussels (ref A). The USG delegation, led by Iraq Policy Coordinator Ambassador Richard Jones, held bilateral meetings with Steering Group counterparts during its May 31 to June 3 visit. Delegation heads from the U.S. and the European Union led the group discussions over a seven-point agenda which addressed logistical arrangements, a media strategy, a draft conference statement, and an Iraqi strategy document on progress and remaining needs for international assistance in the political, economic, and security fields. Russia joined the Steering Group in Cairo following a series of last-minute senior-level Russian interventions with U.S., European, Iraqi, and Egyptian officials, causing upset within the Egyptian Foreign Ministry. The GOE on the morning of June 2 chose not to officially host the Steering Group meeting but, rather, provided the venue at a local hotel for the meeting's convocation. Overall, the Steering Group's meeting and Ambassador Jones's consultations were successful in highlighting areas of required attention, and served as a useful adjunct to the weekly teleconferences held by the Steering Group. Most importantly, the presence of senior-level Iraqi organizers allowed for useful exchanges of views and expectations. End summary. -------------- Working Through the Agenda -------------- ¶2. (C) Members of a Steering Committee planning the June 22 International Conference on Iraq in Brussels met in Cairo June 2 to address remaining administrative and substantive issues to be decided ahead of a gathering of up to 85 foreign ministers and heads of international organizations in the Belgian capital. USG delegation leader Ambassador Richard Jones and European Union Senior Official Christian Leffler led the talks, along with their Iraqi counterpart, Ambassador Mohamed Hamoud. The group addressed a seven-point agenda that included discussion of an Iraqi strategy document to be presented in Brussels on development priorities, the structure of a June 21 senior officials meeting and the June 22 ministerial, conference logistics, a draft conference communique, a public relations strategy, and a conference follow-up mechanism. ¶3. (C) As a result of the discussions, the Iraqi delegate agreed to provide Steering Group members by June 7 (before the next Steering Group conference call on June 8) an outline of a draft strategy document which will address Iraqi actions and continued needs in the three main areas to be addressed at the Brussels conference (political, economic, and rule of law). A more detailed draft strategy document will be circulated by June 9 so that Steering Group members can factor the paper's content into a draft conference statement. On the statement, attendees agreed to shorten the EU's first draft and merge it with a new USG-Iraqi draft distributed during the meeting. The USG delegation agreed to merge the two documents and distribute a revised draft to Steering Group members ahead of a June 8 conference call. The new document will include suggestions, mainly from the Egyptian and UN delegates, to revise language on "federalism" to match Neighbor Group statements, to include a reference to the importance of "public" investment in Iraq, to not over-emphasize NATO's training role, to include additional language on security similar to that found in UNSCR 1546, and to highlight the role of women in Iraq's political transformation. -------------- -------------- Russian Participation in Steering Committee, Egyptian Pique -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Russia's participation at the June 2 Cairo Steering Group meeting came about following senior-level interventions by the Russian Foreign Minister and Russian President with European and USG colleagues, but with minimal coordination and consultation with Egypt (ref C). The meeting had been planned as a Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) meeting which was to include senior officials from some thirty countries and organizations. In response to USG concerns over Syrian inclusion in a PrepCom, the Steering Group - including Egypt - agreed to make the Cairo meeting a coordination meeting of the Steering Group only. Later, following Russian pressure to be included in the Steering Group at the last moment, the Egyptians decided that they would not officially host the gathering, but would merely provide a venue for the gathering (moving the event from the Ministry to a local hotel conference room),informing participants of this change on the morning of June 2. ¶5. (C) During the Steering Group meeting and Heads-of-Delegation luncheon, UN Official de Mistura encouraged additional consultations between the UN and the USG and also confirmed that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan would attend and speak at the Brussels ministerial meeting. Participants agreed to emphasize that the Brussels Ministerial was meant to showcase international political support for Iraq's transformation and was not a donor's conference, as some media reports have asserted. Participants agreed that the follow-up to the Brussels conference will be a Fourth Donors Conference in Amman, Jordan in late July. Egypt made the point that the Sharm El Sheikh process should continue to be utilized. -------------- Steering Group Meeting Attendees -------------- ¶6. (U) USG Delegation Names: Ambassador Richard Jones, Iraq Policy Coordinator Ann Derse, Economic Minister Counselor, Embassy Baghdad Clarke Cooper, Embassy Baghdad Roland DeMarcellus, Department of State, Economic Bureau MG Joseph Fil, Baghdad Mathew Fuller, Assistant to Ambassador Jones Peter Ganser, Embassy Baghdad Sandy Hodgkinson, National Security Council Patricia Lerner, USEU, USAID Development Counselor Gregg Marchessault, Embassy Baghdad Capt Brad McCoy, Aide to General Fil Robert Tappan, PDAS, DOS Public Affairs Bureau Thomas Valentine, Embassy Baghdad Chris Hegadorn, Embassy Cairo European Union Names: Christian Leffler, EU Commission, Head of Delegation Patricia Lombart, EU Commission, Political Director Silvie Lucas, EU Presidency, MFA Luxembourg Marc Otte, EU Council Japanese Delegation Names: Ambassador Akio Shirota, MFA Director of Iraq Reconstruction Coordination Office Shinsuke Sugiyama, Charge d'Affaires, Embassy of Japan Junya Matsuura, MFA Deputy Director, Second Middle East Division Iraqi Delegation Names: Ambassador Mohamed Hammoud Ambassador Srood Najib, MFA Director of International Organizations Department Egyptian Delegation Names: Ambassador Sameh Shukry, MFA Chief of Cabinet Dr. Alaa Hadidi, MFA Cabinet Staff Member, Counselor United Nations Delegation Names: Stephan de Mistura, NY Russian Delegation Names: Sergei Kirpitchenko, Special Envoy for Iraq Policy Ambassador Mikhail Bogdanov, Embassy of Russia ¶7. (U) Ambassador Jones has cleared this message. Visit Embassy Cairo's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/cairo You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. GRAY #4309