UN/IRAQ: FEBRUARY 23 U.S.-UK-UN TRILATERAL MEETING

1. Begin Summary. During the February 23 UN-U.S.-UK
trilateral meeting on UNAMI staff and security, UN
Secretariat staff gave an update on UNAMI electoral and

SIPDIS
constitutional assistance. They indicated that Japan had
shown interest in providing aviation support for UNAMI, but
had not agreed to meet UNAMI's continuing preference for
dedicated military aircraft. Secretariat staff reported
success in the Iraq-Kuwait border assessment mission; 105 of
106 border posts were assessed, and the UN will formally
provide USUN the dates and security requirements for the
maintenance mission (sometime in the Fall). U/SYG for Safety
and Security Veness returned from Baghdad and will complete
his security review by early March; however, he concluded
that the UN could not remain in the al-Rasheed Hotel after
May 1 when MNF hands over security responsibilities to the
Iraqis. End Summary



2. EAD Update: EAD Iraq DeskOff Michael Browne said only a
small electoral assistance team remains in Baghdad for now,
and the focus of their efforts is preparation for an April
5-7 "lessons learned" conference in Cyprus. He said the
outgoing international member of the Independent Electoral
Commission of Iraq (IECI), Craig Jeness, would come to New
York to brief the Secretariat. EAD is looking for a
successor for Jeness, who does not plan to return to Baghdad,
but the position will be revised for a chief technical
advisor to the IECI. Jeness' successor will not be an IECI
member. Browne said with three electoral events under its
belt in the last fourteen months, the IECI does not seem to
want a non-Iraqi member, but he assured us that the UN still
has concerns about IECI capacity and intra-commission
politics and will keep a close eye on IECI administration of
future local elections.



3. Constitutional Review: Department of Political Affairs
(DPA) Iraq deskoff Darko Mocibob said UNAMI is preparing to
support the Iraqi constitutional review process and will send
some Iraqis to South Africa for a constitutional seminar, but
is mindful that some Parliamentary factions want to delay
this process or, at least, the discussion of some
constitutional issues.



4. Dedicated Aircraft: Mocibob said the Japanese government
has said it wants to explore the use of one of its three
C-130s in Iraq for UNAMI. Japan says it would not provide a
dedicated aircraft, but would consider the use of the
aircraft as part of its ongoing MNF activities. This offer
does not meet the SYG's request for a dedicated aircraft, but
Mocibob was appreciative of the possibility and remained open
to how the Japanese offer might be part of a menu of options
that would meet UNAMI's needs.



5. Kuwait-Iraq Border Mission: Mocibob said the UN Mission
had managed to assess 105 of the 106 border posts along the
Kuwait-Iraq border. The one post that was not assessed could
not be approached from Kuwait, and an assessment would have
required cross-border security, which was unavailable. USUN
advised the UN to inform us formally when it has determined
the dates and security requirements for the border
maintenance mission; this mission is expected to be in fall.
(Note: The UN will contract out much of the maintenance
work, and the commercial contractor should provide for its
own security. That factor may well impact the need for MNF-I
security. End Note.)



6. Veness: Baghdad Facilities: According to Vince Kennedy
from the Department of Safety and Security (DSS), U/SYG
Veness has returned from his trip to Baghdad and has
concluded that the al-Rasheed Hotel will not serve UNAMI
needs after the May 1 transfer of security responsibility
from the MNF to the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). Until the
UN can move into its permanent facilities at the former U.S.
Embassy compound, where renovation could take eighteen
months, the UN will need an alternate site. Veness is
considering a compound in the International Zone (IZ)
currently occupied by Bechtel and proposes co-location of the
UN and Bechtel. Kennedy said Veness would present this
proposal to the SYG this week. USUN and UKUN will separately
seek a read-out of Veness' travel next week. Kennedy

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anticipates that Veness' security review will be complete by
early March.



7. Canal Hotel: Mocibob confirmed that a nine UNHQ staff
are in Baghdad to close former UN offices at the Canal Hotel
and anticipated three additional UNMOVIC staff would arrive
this week from Cyprus to close UNMOVIC's Canal offices.
Equipment will be relocated to the IZ. DSS Representative
Vince Kennedy thanked MNF for supporting this relocation,
including with additional security after the Samara bombing.
BOLTON