DEMARCHING INVITEES TO THE US-EU INTERNATIONAL

UNCLAS OTTAWA 001550

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: IZ EG JA ASEC PREL UN FAC
SUBJECT: DEMARCHING INVITEES TO THE US-EU INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE ON IRAQ

REF: SECSTATE 93742


1. This is an action request, see para. 6.


2. Poloff delivered reftel points to Ann Flanagan-Whalen,
Deputy Director for the Middle East Division of Foreign
Affairs Canada. Ms. Flanagan-Whalen said FAC has not yet
received the EU invite and was pleased to get the detail
which we provided. She said that assuming Canada is invited
to the Cairo PrepComm, in addition to one individual from
FAC, Ottawa would like to send the Director of the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA) Iraq Task Force. She
also assumes that Canadian Ambassador Michael Bell, Chair of
the International Reconstruction Fund for Iraq will be
invited.


3. Ms. Flanagan-Whalen said that Canada was pleased with the
appointment of Ambassador Bell because of the central role he
can play to improve donor coordination, and start to shift
the file more directly to the Iraqi government. In addition
to better horizontal integration of donor activities, Bell
hopes to ensure a smooth transition leading into the Amman
conference in July, without any gaps in assistance. She
mentioned, for example, that there are some 55 countries
involved in the training of Iraqi diplomats, but there is not
a central coordinating body or mechanism for ensuring
consistency of how the training is provided. Flanagan-
Whalen also mentioned her understanding that Japan was taking
on the lead role of the working groups on reconstruction.
She asked who would be heading up the three subgroups in the
conference (political, economic/reconstruction, and
security).


4. Flanagan-Whalen asked if we had any ideas on the draft
communique that we were prepared to share. She said that in
the coming days Canada would share with us some ideas in the
area of donor coordination.


5. With regards to the drafting of the constitution and the
political process, Flanagan-Whalen said that Canada remains
dedicated to helping advance the process in any way possible.
Elections Canada remains committed to assisting with the
coming rounds of elections, although Elections Canada
director Jean Pierre Kingsley will, of course be distracted
by any domestic electoral activity. Flanagan-Whalen said she
did hope that the referendum and the election, which are
scheduled very close together, are synchronized in terms of
process and registration. She also mentioned that the
Canadian Forum of Federations was working with NDI on a
project of federalism training or seminars for Iraq. She
stressed the importance of selling the constitution to the
Iraqi people in terms of public education, which will play an
essential role in the ultimate success of the political
process.


6. Flanagan-Whalen also mentioned that the Canadian
Ambassador in Amman would soon be dual-accredited to serve
also in Iraq. Canada will continue to have a liaison officer
in Baghdad with only a few officers there until the security
situation allows for the establishment of a full diplomatic
presence.


7. Action Request: Ms. Flanagan Whalen asked the following
questions for which we promised a response:

-- Any advance thoughts on the draft communique.
-- Who will be the heads of the three conference subgroups
and any other information on the organization of the
conference.

An e-mail response to Poloff Keith Mines would suffice.


8. Minimize Considered.

Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa

DICKSON