NAJAF, GOI OFFICIALS AGREE TO CLOSER COORDINATION ON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HILLAH 000162 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL EAIR ECON IZ SUBJECT: NAJAF, GOI OFFICIALS AGREE TO CLOSER COORDINATION ON AIRPORT REF: HILLAH 125 HILLAH 00000162 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) This is a PRT Najaf cable. ¶2. (U) SUMMARY: In a November 28 meeting at the Najaf Aiport with the U.S. Transportation Attachi, EmbOffs, PRT Najaf Team Leader, 3ID Deputy Division Commander, and the Director General (DG) of the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA),the Najaf Governor and Deputy Governor agreed that a design and construction management firm is needed to oversee the completion of the Najaf Airport Project (NAP) in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. The Najaf officials pledged to submit all NAP designs to the ICAA in advance of construction and promised to coordinate closely all activities with the ICAA in order to ensure ICAO compliance. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (U) On November 28, the U.S. Transportation Attachi, representatives from the Transportation Attache's Office (TAO), EmbOffs, PRT Najaf Team Leader, PRT Najaf Engineer, GRS Engineer, 3ID Deputy Division Commander, and Sabeeh Al Shebany, DG of the ICAA, traveled to the Najaf airport where they met with Najaf Governor Asaad Sultaan Abu Gelal al-Ta'ie Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI),Najaf Deputy Governor Abdul Hussein Baqir Abtan (ISCI),Haider al-Mayali, Chair of the Najaf Reconstruction Council (NRC),and NAP officials. The meeting provided the first opportunity for DG Sabeeh see the Najaf airport and to meet with Najaf officials. ¶4. (U) NRC Chair al-Mayali opened the meeting by providing a snapshot of the NAP. To date, Najaf officials have spent USD fifteen million on the NAP, building internal roads, a vehicle parking lot, eleven guard towers, a security fence, while providing fifteen trailers and filling in numerous open wells on the site. Ongoing projects with contracts awarded include a runway apron and helipad paid for with 2006 U.S. Economic Support Funds (ESF),aircraft turning and parking areas, runway resurfacing and lighting, a fire station, airport equipment such as portable staircases, the main terminal building and a water compact unit. Projects for which the contracts are expected to be awarded in the coming weeks include the principle entry and exit road, the electrical distribution system, ten additional security towers, and ambulance and postal services. According to NAP Deputy Director Dr. Saeed Abdulla, the current and future NAP projects will cost approximately USD 39 million. An outer security wall and the fueling station projects are high priority items on Najaf's Prioritized Project List, and will likely be submitted for consideration for 2007 ESF support. ¶5. (U) Following the NAP status update, the Transportation Attachi commended the local officials for the progress made on the NAP, but cautioned that the work must be done in an ICAO-compliant manner to promote safety in the air and on the ground. Since the ICAA is charged with certifying ICAO compliance, the Transportation Attachi suggested that the plans be submitted to the ICAA prior to construction to speed up the review process. He noted that the recently released Boeing analysis of the NAP (reftel) highlighted the need for on-site aviation experts. As such, the Transportation Attachi suggested that Najaf hire a airport design and construction management firm that would share the plans with the ICAA, oversee construction and develop ICAO-compliant security and emergency plans. ¶6. (U) Deputy Governor Abtan asserted that since the inception of the NAP, Najaf officials have been coordinating with the ICAA to ensure ICAO compliance. He pointed out that an ICAA employee is working full-time on the site to ensure that international standards are applied. Nevertheless, Abtan conceded that the NAP has long suffered from a lack of aviation expertise, and he embraced the idea of hiring an aviation consulting firm. He asked that the TAO provide a list of possible firms, and he suggested that the ICAA select the firm with which they would prefer to work. The Transportation Attache said that he would contact firms that managed the construction of the airports in Irbil and Sulaymaniyah, as well as firms based in the U.S., and would provide Najaf officials and the ICAA with a short list of candidates. ¶7. (U) Responding to several comments from Najaf officials stressing the urgency of the completion of the NAP, the Transportation Attachi said that he would provide local officials within one week a sense of how the hiring of the aviation consulting firm would impact the NAP timeline. When asked by Abtan if the USG was prepared to pay for the hiring of the firm, PRT Najaf Team Leader explained that the USG officials would discuss funding options and present those options to Najaf officials as quickly as possible. ¶8. (U) Following the adjournment of the meeting, the Najaf Governor asked PRT Team Leader and 3ID Deputy Division Commander HILLAH 00000162 002.3 OF 002 for USG advice and assistance for airport security and long-term training for airport management. In a separate conversation, Dr. Abdulla said that DG Sabeeh admitted that the meeting had disabused him of the notion that Najaf officials were uncooperative with the ICAA, and that he was confident that the NAP would proceed with close collaboration between Najaf and Baghdad. ¶9. (SBU) COMMENT: The Najaf Governor and Deputy Governor in particular have been driven to complete the NAP prior to the next provincial election. Therefore publicly agreeing to hire a design and construction management firm, which may delay completion of the NAP for many months, was a major concession and reflected the reality that a hurried, ICAO-non-compliant airport is of little value. Of equal importance, however, was the apparent buy-in the meeting generated for DG Sabeeh. The relationship between Najaf officials and the ICAA had long been strained; however, the meeting appears to have laid the foundation for close collaboration between Najaf and Baghdad. END COMMENT RCLEVELAND SIGNATURE