DEPUTY SECRETARY MEETS WITH RAMADI MAYOR AMIDST

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 003960 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/04/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINS IZ SUBJECT: DEPUTY SECRETARY MEETS WITH RAMADI MAYOR AMIDST MUCH IMPROVED SECURITY ENVIRONMENT Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Patricia A. Butenis for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) This is a combined Anbar PRT/Ramadi ePRT reporting cable. ¶2. (C) SUMMARY. On November 28 Deputy Secretary Negroponte met with Ramadi Mayor Latif Obaid Ayadah at the city,s Municipal Center. Negroponte noted the improved security situation since his last visit in June. The Mayor described the improved services within the city. Mayor Latif added that the suicide vehicle attack that took place in Ramadi November 21 came after a long period which saw no such attacks, and that this was a sign of overall improved security. The Mayor invited the Deputy Secretary to return to Ramadi again, saying he hoped next time to be able to showcase the city,s economic recovery. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (C) On November 28 Deputy Secretary Negroponte met with Ramadi Mayor Latif Obaid Ayadah at the city,s Municipal Center and Ramadi ePRT headquarters, in Anbar Province,s capital and largest city. Also present were Senior Advisor/Coordinator for Iraq Ambassador David Satterfield, Minister-Counselor for Economic Affairs Ambassador Charles Ries, Multi-National Forces-West (MNF-W) Commander Major General Gaskin, and Brigadier General Allen. ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY -------------- ¶4. (C) Deputy Secretary Negroponte commented that he had last visited Ramadi in June 2007 and noted the improved security situation. &One can feel and see the progress that has been made here.8 He added that the new challenge would be to move the situation forward so things did not fall back into violence and extremism. &You need to find ways to improve the lives of your people,8 he told the Mayor. Mayor Latif agreed, saying he was now focused on improving the economic situation in Ramadi. He added that he would like to do more to develop the portion of the city west of the Euphrates River. He pointed out that Ramadi was situated along the main transit route from Jordan to Baghdad, and that Ramadi did not yet have a single hotel. ¶5. (C) Mayor Latif also noted that Ramadi could capitalize on Anbar,s natural resources to inject economic revival into the community, pointing out that Anbar was famous for powder-fine sand, which is ideal for glass production. He also noted the heretofore-dormant ceramics factory, which was being revived with Coalition support and the delivery of new power generators. ¶6. (C) Mayor Latif also described improved services within the city. Garbage collection had been halted for about two years, and was finally resumed about five months ago. He credited Coalition Forces, the ePRT, and the NGO International Relief and Development for helping Ramadi officials re-establish local services. SECURITY IMPROVED -------------- ¶7. (C) Mayor Latif noted the suicide vehicle attack that took place November 21 outside the Ramadi Justice Center, which killed two Iraqi policemen and a civilian, but inflicted only superficial damage to the building. &We were not happy about this, but it was what we have been expecting,8 he said. It had been eight months since the last vehicle bomb exploded in Ramadi, and although the latest attack was unfortunate, the fact that there had been relatively few attacks in 2007 compared to 2006 should be seen as a sign of success. He added that police recruitment is going well, and one could not walk down the street in Ramadi without seeing a blue-shirted police officer. ¶8. (C) Mayor Latif invited the Deputy Secretary to return to Ramadi in the future. While it had been too dangerous to visit the city in 2004 and 2005, Anbaris and U.S. forces had worked hard to drive out the terrorists, and during a future visit, he would probably see an improved economic situation in the city. The Deputy Secretary said he was pleased with the progress that had been achieved. ¶9. (U) The Deputy Secretary's party has cleared this cable. BUTENIS