NETHERLANDS/IRAQ: DUTCH SUPPORT FOR IRAQI

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 003291 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPRNET DISTRO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KDEM KPAO MARR MOPS IZ NL PROV SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/IRAQ: DUTCH SUPPORT FOR IRAQI ELECTIONS REF: A. STATE 220728 ¶B. STATE 217743 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Dutch are supporting the December 15 Iraqi elections by providing voting facilities in the Netherlands and will send six election monitors to Iraq. The Dutch MFA is actively engaged in the training of Iraqi jurists and diplomats, and will shortly revise its travel advisory to facilitate commercial exchanges with Iraq, especially the northern three provinces. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) POLCOUNS delivered ref a points soliciting support for the upcoming December 15 elections in Iraq to John Bischop (Head of the Gulf States Office in the Dutch MFA's bureau of North African and Near Eastern Affairs) and Willemijn Kallenberg (Iraq Desk Officer) on December 8. POLCOUNS also took advantage of the meeting to pass copies of the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq document to Bischop and Kallenberg. (Note: Per ref b, a copy of the document was previously shared with Rob Swartbol, Prime Minister Balkenende's senior foreign policy advisor.) Bischop and Kallenberg expressed thanks for the information, which they said would be helpful in answering questions from the press and parliament. ¶3. (SBU) Bischop and Kallenberg stressed that the Dutch were providing direct support to the Iraqi election process. The Dutch MFA, working with the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) and local authorities, is setting up a polling station for expatriate Iraqis at a secure facility in Utrecht. Kallenberg noted that over 14,000 Iraqis voted in the Netherlands during the previous election; she expected turnout to be closer to 20,000 this time. She added that a team of 190 IECI and Dutch personnel were committed to ensuring out-of-country voting in the Netherlands proceeds smoothly. Voters, including Iraqis non-resident in the Netherlands, will be able to register and vote on December 13, 14, and 15. Kallenberg and Bischop also confirmed that the Dutch will send 6 election monitors to Iraq for the December 15 elections. ¶4. (SBU) According to Bischop and Kallenberg, the Dutch will remain committed to supporting civil society in Iraq beyond the upcoming elections. A group of 39 Iraqi judges, Kallenberg noted, is completing training in the Netherlands this week, and another class of 40 was expected to begin training in February. The Dutch Clingendael institute has also received an MFA contract to train Iraqi diplomats; the second class of approximately 20 students will start in January. Bischop added that the MFA was in the process of revising its "Travel Advisory" for Iraq to make it easier for Dutch businessmen to travel to the northern three provinces. This move, he stressed, was being taken on the advice of the Dutch Ambassador to Baghdad (who had just returned from a trip to the North),and was intended to facilitate planning for an upcoming Dutch trade delegation to the region. . BLAKEMAN