Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05CAIRO4309
2005-06-08 07:53:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Cairo
Cable title:  

IRAQ CONFERENCE CORE-GROUP PLANNING MEETING IN

Tags:  PREL PGOV EAID EIND ECON EG IZ RS EUN 
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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
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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