This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000904 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA, EUR/WE AND S/I 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/21/2016 
TAGS: PARM PREL PGOV EAID IZ IT UNSC IRAQI FREEDOM ITALY NATIONAL ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: IRAQ: ITALIAN MFA SAYS PRT MOVING AHEAD REGARDLESS 
OF ELECTION OUTCOME 
 
REF: A. STATE 44648 
     ¶B. BAGHDAD 500 
     ¶C. ROME 239 
     ¶D. ROME 583 
     ¶E. ROME 839 
 
Classified By: Pol M/C David D. Pearce for Reasons 1.4 (a), (b) and (d) 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) Italy's Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Dhi 
Qar province will be fully operational by the end of April. 
MFA officials are confident that, barring an unexpectedly 
large vote for the extreme left in Italy's April 9 election, 
a center-left election victory will not affect the current 
planning, which foresees 15 to 20 civilian experts and 600 to 
800 military staffing the PRT, including Italian force 
protection and security trainers.  As Italy continues to draw 
down its military contingent, it will be able to devote more 
funds to its civilian reconstruction mission/PRT.  Italy will 
not be able to increase its contributions to NTM-I in the 
near term, as it concentrates on standing up the PRT.  End 
summary. 
 
PRT Operational by End of April... 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) Pol-Mil Counselor and PolOff met March 21 with MFA 
NATO Office Director Gianni Bardini and Iraq Task Force 
officer Stefano Stucci to discuss Italy's progress in 
standing up a PRT in Dhi Qar province.  Stucci said the PRT 
should be fully operational in five to six weeks and will 
include 15 to 20 civilian experts from Italy, the U.S. 
(three) and possibly Romania and Australia.  Four Italian 
experts are already on the ground and the PRT leader, Dr. 
Troiano, departs for Iraq March 29.  600-800 Italian military 
will provide security and continue Carabinieri training for 
Iraqi security forces.  Bardini said Italy remains open to 
training Iraqis from other provinces at its facility in Dhi 
Qar and to putting the Carabinieri training under a NATO 
umbrella.  Although Italy continues to favor expanding the 
NATO Training Mission in Iraq (NTM-I), Italy will not be able 
to increase its contributions in the near term while it 
focuses its efforts on the PRT. 
 
...and Poised to Continue Even Under Center-Left Government 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Both Bardini and Stucci were confident that, 
regardless of who wins Italy's April 9 elections, the PRT 
will move forward.  Only if the extreme left wins twenty or 
more percent of the vote would the mission be at risk, Stucci 
said.  The PRT is a "bipartisan" initiative publicly 
supported by President Ciampi, and there is consensus on all 
sides that it should be the "magnetic focus" of Italy's 
efforts to help rebuild Iraq.  Bardini noted that the 
moderate center-left (Fassino, D'Alema, Rutelli) will want to 
avoid unnecessary clashes with the U.S. that would result 
from pulling back the PRT commitment.  There is a "coinciding 
of interests" of Italy's center-right and center-left on the 
PRT, since the Italian mission already is transitioning from 
a military to a mainly civilian one, which is what the 
center-left would do if it were in power.  Even the military 
personnel assigned to the PRT are not at risk of being 
withdrawn.  There will be no Zapatero in Italy, Bardini 
stated confidently. 
 
Shifting Resources From Military to Civilian Operations 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶4. (C) Stucci was optimistic that in the second half of 2006, 
as more Italian military leave Iraq, funding for the mission 
will be redirected from the military deployment toward the 
PRT. (Parliament must approve the funding every six months, 
with the next vote occurring in June/July).  Both confirmed 
that Italy will draw down another 1,000 soldiers in June, 
bringing Italy's troop presence in Dhi Qar province to 
approximately 1,600, approximately half of its original 
contingent of 3,200 troops. In terms of reconstruction 
efforts (Ref A), Stucci said Italy's PRT priorities for Dhi 
Qar are infrastructure projects in the electricity, water, 
and health (with the Red Cross) sectors, public 
administration training/governance (which he called the 
highest priority), and promoting e-government.  Italy already 
is running a marshland initiative sponsored by Italy's 
Environment Ministry and health sector projects in the 
Kurdish north.  Stucci reconfirmed that Italy had disbursed 
nearly all of its Madrid pledge (Ref D). 
 
¶5. (C) Stucci said Italy was considering the U.S. request 
that Italians supervise an Iraqi-run PRT in al-Muthanna 
province, but was unsure of the resource implications and 
worried it could stretch the Dhi Qar PRT too thin. 
 
SPOGLI