US/UK/UN TRILATERAL ON UN ACTIVITIES IN IRAQ

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 001976 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/I, IO/UNP, AND S/I E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV UNSC IZ PINS SUBJECT: US/UK/UN TRILATERAL ON UN ACTIVITIES IN IRAQ Classified By: DEPUTY POLITICAL COUNSELOR MOLLY PHEE, FOR REASONS 1.4 B /D ¶1. (C) Summary: The UN met with the UK and U.S. missions October 12 to discuss the UN Assistance Mission to Iraq (UNAMI),the Iraq Compact and related issues. UNAMI has temporarily withdrawn most staff from its Basrah office after MNF-I withdrew assets, although it plans on returning once their headquarters in Basrah Palace Island are functional. D/SRSG von der Schulenberg will lead a visit to Kirkuk beginning October 15 to examine the possibility of opening a sub-office there. UN officials also raised the need to start planning for the "morning after" the adoption of the Iraq Compact. They emphasized the importance they attach to Constitutional Review, which they see as the best chance of reconciliation for Iraq. End summary. UNAMI OPERATIONS ¶2. (C) UNAMI recently withdrew the bulk of its personnel from Basrah, said Darko Mocibob, political affairs officer from the UN,s Department of Political Affairs (DPA). Only a security officer and a military advisor remain following MNF-I,s withdrawal of certain support assets, including emergency evacuation support. Mocibob said this was temporary. The UN has concluded a concept of operations agreement with Romania, whereby Romanian troops will provide inner and outer ring security to the UN,s sub-office in Basrah. Meanwhile, planning continues for the UN to occupy buildings A and B in the Basrah Palace Island complex. Regarding the U.S. request to temporarily occupy building C, Mocibob said the UN will likely approve it, although certain liability issues will need to be resolved. ¶3. (C) Mocibob said the UN has completed its move to the Tamimi compound in Baghdad, and is now fast-tracking a procurement request to provide overhead protection for all parts of that compound. Planning continues for the UN,s permanent facility, slated to open in April 2008. UNAMI and DPA continue to press for the Secretary General,s approval of a plan to use commercial air to fly from Amman, Jordan directly to Erbil. SRSG Qazi and UN Undersecretaries Gambari and Vaness have separately pushed for the Secretary General,s approval, but no decision has been made, said Mocibob. Mocibob added that the Danes have finished an assessment visit to Kuwait related to their plan to dedicate a C-130 for UNAMI use. The Danes plan an inaugural flight in early January, said Mocibob. ¶4. (C) Mocibob and senior political affairs officer Jehangir Khan noted that D/SRSG von der Schulenberg plans to visit Kirkuk beginning October 15. Schulenberg will examine political and support arrangements for the possible opening of a UNAMI sub-office in the Kurdish region. Khan said UNAMI may request U.S. and UK support in setting up an office. Poloff and the UK poloff encouraged the UN officials to work towards opening an office in Kirkuk, given the many upcoming political and voting issues in the region. Mocibob took on board these comments, but added that the UN is "not entirely sure of the Iraqi welcome." IRAQ COMPACT ¶5. (C) Khan said the October 9 technical meeting in Baghdad of the Iraq Compact turned out "better than most." Nevertheless, he said the political and security chapters of the draft need to be much more specific, and need to contain the same type of performance benchmarks as in the economic portion. The Europeans and the Japanese insisted on this point, Khan said. He added that it was important for the international community and especially the Iraqi government to begin planning for the "morning after" the signing of the Iraq Compact. It would take "heavy lifting" by both the Iraqi government and its political parties to implement the Compact, said Khan. ¶6. (C) Khan also raised DPM Barham Salih,s desire that Kuwait host the high level preparatory meeting at the end of USUN NEW Y 00001976 002 OF 002 October or beginning of November, and Saudi Arabia host the final signing ceremony. Currently, Kuwait has offered to host the signing ceremony and Saudi Arabia has offered to host the high level preparatory meeting. Khan urged the U.S. and UK to ask Salih not to insist on switching sites for the two meetings. Salih and the Iraqi government would likely offend both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia by trying to switch the hosting of the two meetings, said Khan. ¶7. (C) Khan said Russia had approached the UN and asked to be invited to the signing ceremony. This might make sense, said Khan, especially since the Russians hinted that an invitation might give them an incentive to legally and technically cancel the debts Iraq owed them. CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW ¶8. (C) Khan and Mocibob noted that Iraq,s Council of Representatives has finalized a Constitutional Review Committee and is drafting terms of reference for the review. UNAMI and the UN are ready to assist, said Khan, and consider the constitutional review process to be Iraq,s "last, best chance for reconciliation." It is a vehicle for a peace treaty between Iraq,s people, said Khan. Although the UN supported PM Maliki,s National Compact, it should be a complement to the constitutional review process, not a substitute, said Khan. ¶9. (C) UNAMI has recruited their constitutional expert Fink Haysom to continue to provide support, said Khan. Haysom plans to follow "a more prescriptive and robust approach" than before. Although the UN and UNAMI are poised to help, they have received mixed signals regarding the willingness of all parties to negotiate, said Khan. It is unclear whether the Kurds and the Shias are willing to do the hard bargaining necessary for the constitutional review process, Khan concluded. BOLTON