AUSTRIA NAMES CHARGE IN BAGHDAD FOR THE DURATION

UNCLAS VIENNA 003883 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR NEA AND EUR/AGS - VIKMANIS-KELLER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL IZ AU EUN SUBJECT: AUSTRIA NAMES CHARGE IN BAGHDAD FOR THE DURATION OF ITS EU PRESIDENCY REF: VIENNA 3818 ¶1. (SBU) On December 13, the Austrian government announced that journalist and Middle East expert Gudrun Harrer will head Austria's diplomatic mission in Baghdad during the Austrian EU presidency, from January through June 2006. The Foreign Ministry's assistant secretary-level Director for Middle East and African Affairs, Ralph Scheide, told us that Harrer would serve as both the Austrian Presidency's Special Envoy to Iraq and also the Austrian Charge d'Affaires. (Scheide explained that Austrian law does not permit non-career appointees to assume the title of Ambassador.) Harrer will arrive before January 1, Scheide said. ¶2. (SBU) Austria currently has no diplomatic presence in Iraq, but rather covers the country from its embassy in Amman. Austria's trade delegations in Iraq -- an existing office in Baghdad and a new one in Irbil (reftel) -- will come under Harrer's authority, Scheide told us. Austrian diplomatic offices will be housed in British facilities inside the Green Zone -- an arrangement, Scheide said, for which the GOA will pay "a lot" of money to the British. Scheide said he expected Harrer to have a small staff. ¶3. (U) In announcing Harrer's appointment, Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said, "A secure, stable and united Iraq is in the interest of the European Union. Therefore, EU member states have participated actively, within their capabilities, in international efforts to support Iraq's political and economic reconstruction." As EU President, Austria needs its own diplomatic presence in Baghdad, "in order to pursue the duties of the EU presidency at the scene." ¶4. (SBU) Bio note: Harrer has been a consultant to Plassnik on Middle East issues since Plassnik assumed her position in December 2004. Harrer is the foreign policy editor of the Vienna newspaper "Der Standard." She is also a Middle East expert who has written several books on Iraq and lectures in modern Arab history at the University of Vienna. Harrer has been a close contact of the Embassy. She speaks excellent English. MCCAW