BELGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER DE GUCHT'S MAY 27-28

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 000802

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EUR/WE AND NEA/I

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL EINV EPET BE IZ
SUBJECT: BELGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER DE GUCHT'S MAY 27-28
VISIT TO IRAQ


1. (SBU) Summary: Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht
traveled to Iraq on May 27-28. While Belgium has been absent
from Iraq for several years, his visit indicates a new
willingness to be more active and cooperative with efforts to
build security and good governance in the country. De Gucht
met with Prime Minister Al Maliki and Foreign Minister
Zebari, as well as U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill, and
traveled to Erbil to meet with Kurdish officials. He found
the Iraqis eager to convince him of growing stability and
investment opportunities. He was accompanied by some Belgian
companies on his trip, and reportedly a contract for water
treatment plant construction was signed. De Gucht encouraged
the Iraqis to develop gas routes into the Nabucco pipeline
project, but did not find great enthusiasm for the idea. At
his own request, he met with Wijdan Mikhail Salim, Minister
for Human Rights, mainly to encourage Iraq to reduce or
eliminate its reliance on the death penalty. End Summary.


2. (SBU) On June 3, Emboffs met with the Jean-Luc Bodson,
Deputy Chief of Staff for the Foreign Minister, and Yves
Rogister, Middle East Desk Officer, to discuss Belgian
Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht's recent trip to Baghdad.
Bodson said that the visit was the first by a Belgian Foreign
Minister to Iraq since 1990. He blamed Belgium's unfavorable
attitude toward U.S. actions in Iraq under the Bush
Administration for Belgium's diplomatic absence from the
Iraqi capital since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in

2003. At that time, Bodson said, the feeling was that
Belgium "had nothing to offer." Now Belgium is becoming more
interested in the reconstruction of Iraq, Bodson said.


3. (SBU) Note: Rogister has previously supplied us with the
following data on Belgian assistance to Iraq:

-- One million euros in the framework of the Consolidated
Appeal (CAP) for Iraq through OCHA. This contribution is
earmarked for UNHCR operations helping Internally Displaced
Persons (IDPs) in Iraq.

-- 250,000 euros for Mine Advisory Group (MAG),an NGO active
in the field of mine clearing in the Kurdistan Region of
Iraq, in the area close to the Iraqi-Iranian border.

-- 250,000 euros for the UN General Trust Fund in order to
finance the "middle ring" of the UNAMI's Protection Force.

-- Training in Belgium for Iraqi magistrates in the
framework of the EU's EUJUSTLEX program. End Note.


4. (SBU) De Gucht's visit has been in the works for the past
one to two years, partly influenced by Belgium's membership
in the UN Security Council, but it had been slightly delayed
by the December 2008 governmental crisis in Belgium. The
purpose of the visit, Bodson said, was to take stock of the
leadership in Baghdad, build bilateral trust, and seek out
investment opportunities for Belgian businesses. The FM met
with a large number of top officials in Iraq: Prime Minister
Nouri Al-Maliki, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Mahmud Zebari,
Minister of Human Rights Wijdan Mikhail Salim and newly
arrived U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill. Bodson said that
the Iraqis were eager to convince De Gucht that the situation
in Iraq is well on the way to stabilizing and that he should
support investment by Belgian companies in the country.
Bodson observed, however, that wearing of protective helmets
and vests was still required outside the green zone in
Baghdad. He was pleased that the feeling of danger was much
reduced in Erbil, Kurdistan region, which was the only city
De Gucht visited outside Baghdad.


5. (SBU) Besides investment, Maliki and Zebari sought
Belgium's assistance in building confidence with Saudi
Arabia, which is not comfortable with Iraq's increasingly
Shia identity. They also were interested in reduction or
elimination of reparation payments for the 1991 war owed to
Kuwait. They discussed the status of Kirkuk with De Gucht.
Bodson said that the Belgians hope that the UN Commission
working there will help find solutions to allow people to
live in greater harmony. De Gucht heard complaints about
Iranian meddling in Iraq, and that the Iranians' influence is
not for the better. In Erbil, De Gucht's message to the
Kurds was that Belgium understands the problems there. The
Kurdish authorities emphasized that their future is inside
Iraq, despite deep wounds of history. They do seek much
greater autonomy, Bodson said. They expressed a desire for
better relations with Turkey and rejected the PKK, although
they are having a hard time controlling the anti-Turkish
rebels in remote border regions near Turkey. Bodson was
impressed by the boom in construction in Erbil and the
obvious, albeit unequally distributed, wealth on display.

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6. (SBU) De Gucht specifically requested to meet with Human
Rights Minister Salim. He protested the frequency of
executions and urged the eliination of the death penalty
under Iraqi law. He told Salim that he worries the stock ofinternational good
will toward the Iraqi government is eroded
by continuation of the death penalty. Salim said that
although she was personally uncomfortable with the death
penalty, given the high level of violence in the country
popular will supports keeping it as a legal punishment.


7. (SBU) De Gucht had a meeting with U.S. Ambassador
Christopher Hill. He appreciated Hill's frank assessment of
the situation in Iraq.


8. (SBU) A few Belgian companies accompanied De Gucht.
Bodson said that Belgian companies, particularly from
Flanders, are interested in investment opportunities in
Iraq's infrastructure such as waste water treatment,
electrical engineering, and port management. He said that
one contract had been signed during the trip, which
reportedly is for construction of 13 water treatment plants
in Baghdad. It is possible that there could be a Belgian
trade mission to Iraq, encouraged by the example of a recent,
successful Korean mission that led to the opening of new
hotels in Baghdad.


9. (SBU) De Gucht encouraged the possibility that Iraqi gas
could flow into the Nabucco pipeline project. Bodson said
the idea was not met with great enthusiasm. In Erbil, the
Kurds expressed frustration with Baghdad's reluctance to
allow oil and gas export projects to move forward quickly.
Belgium sees potential investment opportunities in Iraq's oil
and gas industry, Bodson said.


10. (SBU) Asked what the next steps are for Belgian-Iraqi
relations, Bodson said that Belgium has no immediate plans to
open a Belgian Embassy. Its Charge d'Affaires has been
accredited to Iraq, however, and the Foreign Ministry plans
to give him enough funds to travel to Baghdad twice a year.
The GOB will continue to support governance projects in Iraq,
including EUJUSTLEX, and its contributions to UNHCR for
assisting refugees in Jordan and Iraq. It also has accepted
fifty Iraqi refugees (women at risk, and Palestinians) for
resettlement in Belgium and is willing to consider taking
more in the context of a European framework for dealing with
the issue. Bodson also mentioned that Belgium has already
canceled 80 percent of Iraq's 300 million euro debt to
Belgium.


11. (SBU) Comment: Belgium is a long way from being a major
player in Iraq issues, but De Gucht's visit signals an
increasing interest in being more active and cooperative with
efforts to build security and good governance in the country.
End Comment.

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