AMBASSADOR LAYS CORNERSTONE FOR AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN

UNCLAS KIRKUK 000292

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/I
BAGHDAD FOR POL, USAID, NCT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SCUL EAID PGOV SOCI IZ
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR LAYS CORNERSTONE FOR AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN
IRAQ-SULAYMANIYAH


1. SUMMARY: Ambassador Khalilzad joined President Talabani and
Planning Minister Dr. Barham Salih on December 11 in laying the
cornerstone of the future American University in Iraq -
Sulaymaniyah (AUI-S). The Kurdistan Regional Government is
contributing $10 million to the project. In private meetings
with Talabani and Salih, the Ambassador also committed $10
million, pending the completion of a feasibility plan and fund
raising strategy. Other funds will be forthcoming from private
donors. The occasion was marked with speeches stressing that
this historic occasion would not have been possible without the
U.S.-led liberation of Iraq. Some Middle Eastern media
misreported the Ambassador's speech as calling for the
reelection of President Talabani. END SUMMARY.


2. The American University project is the brainchild of the
Minister of Planning, Dr. Barham Salih (a senior figure in the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK, the party of Iraqi President
Jalal Talabani; Sulaymaniyah is its geographical base). AUI-S
aspires to emulate the longstanding American Universities in
Beirut and Cairo and the new ones in Kuwait and Sharjah. Like
them, AUI-S will be a fee-paying institution, but it is not
affiliated with any university. Dr. Barham has leveraged the
proposed U.S. contribution and the credibility it provides, to
secure pledges totaling millions of dollars from the KRG and the
private sector in Sulaymaniyah; he says KRG-Erbil Prime Minister
Nechirvan Barzani has pledged to contribute as well (amount
TBD).


3. According to the contractor charged with drawing up the
initial plans for the University (Federal Development and
Contracting based in Sulaimani),phase one construction is to
begin in July 2006 and be complete by September 2007; the first
semester is slated to begin in December 2006 with one thousand
students in an English preparatory program. The departments
planned for Phase One are: Business Administration, Economics,
Finance, Marketing, Computer Engineering, and Electrical and
Electronic Engineering. Eventually, AUI-S is to have five
thousand students drawn from the Kurdistan region as well as
other parts of Iraq and the Mideast.


4. The Board of Trustees comprises Dr. Barham, Prof. John
Agresto, Prof. Kanaan Makiya, Prof. Khalid Salih, Dr. Rajaa Al
Khuzai, Mr. Farook Mustafa Rasool, and Mr. Basil Rahim.


5. The December 11 ceremony at the site of the future campus,
was held in front of several hundred, including many students.
KRG-Sulaymaniyah Prime Minister Omar Fattah, Dr. Barham,
Ambassador Khalilzad, and President Talabani all gave speeches,
then the Ambassador joined the President and Dr. Barham in
laying the cornerstone. We note that some Arabic-language
newspapers (notably Al-Sharq Al-Awsat and Al-Zaman) misreported
the Ambassador as saying that the Iraqi legislature that will
emerge from this month's elections should re-elect President
Talabani. In fact, as correctly reported in the
Kurdish-language Kurdestani Nwe, the Ambassador merely noted
that the new legislature would elect a President "and I can
imagine the result." The crowd loved it.
BELL