IRAQ: ITALIAN MFA SAYS PRT MOVING AHEAD REGARDLESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000904

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA, EUR/WE AND S/I

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/21/2016
TAGS: PARM PREL PGOV EAID IZ IT UNSC IRAQI FREEDOM ITALY NATIONAL ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: IRAQ: ITALIAN MFA SAYS PRT MOVING AHEAD REGARDLESS
OF ELECTION OUTCOME

REF: A. STATE 44648

B. BAGHDAD 500

C. ROME 239

D. ROME 583

E. ROME 839

Classified By: Pol M/C David D. Pearce for Reasons 1.4 (a),(b) and (d)

Summary
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1. (C) Italy's Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Dhi
Qar province will be fully operational by the end of April.
MFA officials are confident that, barring an unexpectedly
large vote for the extreme left in Italy's April 9 election,
a center-left election victory will not affect the current
planning, which foresees 15 to 20 civilian experts and 600 to
800 military staffing the PRT, including Italian force
protection and security trainers. As Italy continues to draw
down its military contingent, it will be able to devote more
funds to its civilian reconstruction mission/PRT. Italy will
not be able to increase its contributions to NTM-I in the
near term, as it concentrates on standing up the PRT. End
summary.

PRT Operational by End of April...
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2. (C) Pol-Mil Counselor and PolOff met March 21 with MFA
NATO Office Director Gianni Bardini and Iraq Task Force
officer Stefano Stucci to discuss Italy's progress in
standing up a PRT in Dhi Qar province. Stucci said the PRT
should be fully operational in five to six weeks and will
include 15 to 20 civilian experts from Italy, the U.S.
(three) and possibly Romania and Australia. Four Italian
experts are already on the ground and the PRT leader, Dr.
Troiano, departs for Iraq March 29. 600-800 Italian military
will provide security and continue Carabinieri training for
Iraqi security forces. Bardini said Italy remains open to
training Iraqis from other provinces at its facility in Dhi
Qar and to putting the Carabinieri training under a NATO
umbrella. Although Italy continues to favor expanding the
NATO Training Mission in Iraq (NTM-I),Italy will not be able
to increase its contributions in the near term while it
focuses its efforts on the PRT.

...and Poised to Continue Even Under Center-Left Government
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3. (C) Both Bardini and Stucci were confident that,
regardless of who wins Italy's April 9 elections, the PRT
will move forward. Only if the extreme left wins twenty or
more percent of the vote would the mission be at risk, Stucci
said. The PRT is a "bipartisan" initiative publicly
supported by President Ciampi, and there is consensus on all
sides that it should be the "magnetic focus" of Italy's
efforts to help rebuild Iraq. Bardini noted that the
moderate center-left (Fassino, D'Alema, Rutelli) will want to
avoid unnecessary clashes with the U.S. that would result
from pulling back the PRT commitment. There is a "coinciding
of interests" of Italy's center-right and center-left on the
PRT, since the Italian mission already is transitioning from
a military to a mainly civilian one, which is what the
center-left would do if it were in power. Even the military
personnel assigned to the PRT are not at risk of being
withdrawn. There will be no Zapatero in Italy, Bardini
stated confidently.

Shifting Resources From Military to Civilian Operations
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4. (C) Stucci was optimistic that in the second half of 2006,
as more Italian military leave Iraq, funding for the mission
will be redirected from the military deployment toward the
PRT. (Parliament must approve the funding every six months,
with the next vote occurring in June/July). Both confirmed
that Italy will draw down another 1,000 soldiers in June,
bringing Italy's troop presence in Dhi Qar province to
approximately 1,600, approximately half of its original
contingent of 3,200 troops. In terms of reconstruction
efforts (Ref A),Stucci said Italy's PRT priorities for Dhi
Qar are infrastructure projects in the electricity, water,
and health (with the Red Cross) sectors, public
administration training/governance (which he called the
highest priority),and promoting e-government. Italy already
is running a marshland initiative sponsored by Italy's
Environment Ministry and health sector projects in the
Kurdish north. Stucci reconfirmed that Italy had disbursed
nearly all of its Madrid pledge (Ref D).


5. (C) Stucci said Italy was considering the U.S. request
that Italians supervise an Iraqi-run PRT in al-Muthanna
province, but was unsure of the resource implications and
worried it could stretch the Dhi Qar PRT too thin.

SPOGLI