VZCZCXRO7603
RR RUEHAST
DE RUEHPS #0538/01 1731647
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221647Z JUN 06
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6238
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHFMIUU/AFSOUTH NAPLES IT
RHMFIUU/CDR TF FALCON
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEPGEA/CDR650THMIGP SHAPE BE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000538 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE, EB/IFD/OIA, EB/CBA 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO OPIC 
AID FOR EE/ECA, EE/DGSR 
NSC FOR BRAUN 
USDOC FOR CEEBIC, 4232/ITA/MAC/EUR/OEERIS/CEED/SSAVICH 
TREASURY FOR EUROPE & EURASIA 
FRANKFURT FOR TREASURY E. MEYER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN ECON YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO'S NEW AUDITOR GENERAL OFF TO A GOOD START 
 
 
PRISTINA 00000538  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified; protect accordingly. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Summary.  Since arriving in February 2006, Kosovo 
Auditor General Linda Casella has produced six complete 
audits on Kosovo municipalities and other institutions.  She 
was assaulted and severely beaten in downtown Pristina 
shortly after her scathing audit of Pristina municipality 
was issued and has since moved to a secure residence and 
accepted 24-hour security.  Undeterred, she has focused on 
completing overdue audits from previous fiscal years and 
launching new reviews of political parties and the Kosovo 
Assembly.  Unlike her predecessor, Casella has good 
relationships with SRSG Soren Jessen-Petersen and Prime 
Minister Agim Ceku; the latter has asked her to audit, 
resources permitting, six Kosovo ministries to assist him in 
evaluating the performance of his ministers as part of his 
effort to clean up the Kosovo government.  End Summary. 
 
NEW AUDITOR GENERAL OFF TO PRODUCTIVE START 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) On June 7 Kosovo's new Auditor General (AG) Linda 
Casella, a dual Italian/Australian national, told E/P Chief 
and Econoff that she takes seriously her responsibility to 
review the financial management and accountability of all 
Kosovo Government and UNMIK agencies that receive funding 
from the Kosovo Consolidated Budget (KCB).  Kosovo's Auditor 
General noted that her predecessor, Inga Britt Ahlenius, 
focused on building the professional capacity and skills of 
the AG's Kosovar staff, whereas Casella believes the best 
way to build capacity is to guide staff through hands-on 
training by doing actual auditing work. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Since Casella's arrival in Kosovo in February 2006, 
the AG has produced six audits including reports on the 
Office of the President of Kosovo's procurement procedures 
and asset management from January-September 2005, the 
Ministries of Trade and Industry's procurement procedures 
and asset management in 2004, Kacanik municipality's 
procurement procedures and asset management in 2004, and the 
Central Inter-Ministerial Commission Reconstruction Fund in 
2004-05 for housing and commercial property damaged during 
the March 2004 riots.  Casella said that her staff, which is 
a mix of Kosovars and internationals, can do most of the 
work but the more difficult audits are outsourced to more 
experienced private sector auditing companies which are paid 
for by the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR). 
 
PHYSICALLY ASSUALTED BUT UNDETERRED IN HER WORK 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Casella told Econoffs that she was physically 
assaulted and robbed of her handbag in February as she 
attempted to enter her apartment complex in downtown 
Pristina.  Police reports at the time concluded that the 
physical assault was taken out of proportion and noted that 
the crime appeared to be a simple purse snatching, and the 
Kosovo press suggested a link to the AG's very critical 
report, then just-released, of the Pristina municipality's 
procurement practices.  Casella said UNMIK moved her to a 
secure apartment complex after the incident and is providing 
24/7 security.  Despite the incident, Casella said that she 
is focused on completing audits from 2003-05 and is planning 
to review the activities of the political parties that 
receive KCB funding.  She said that her office is currently 
auditing the Kosovo Assembly's procurement procedures and 
asset management, noting that the first report should come 
out in late June or July. 
 
PM CEKU SEES AUDITOR GENERAL AS ALLY IN CLEANING UP PISG 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Casella said that she has good relationships with 
 
PRISTINA 00000538  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
the outgoing UNMIK SRSG Soren Jessen-Petersen and Kosovo 
Prime Minister Agim Ceku.  (NOTE: AG Alhenius was constantly 
at loggerheads with UNMIK over her focus on institutional 
capacity building to the virtual exclusion over actual 
auditing. END NOTE.)  Casella said the prime minister has 
requested comprehensive audits of all Provisional 
Institutions of Self-Government (PISG) ministries to help 
him evaluate the performance of current ministers, adding 
that Ceku even offered to set up a desk for her to work in 
his office.  Casella said she told the PM she could only do 
audits if he found the money to pay for them, but she is 
clearly impressed with the PM's seriousness of purpose, 
opining that this spirit of cooperation would allow her 
office to get a lot done in thoroughly auditing PISG 
institutions. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment: During her short time in Kosovo, the new 
Auditor General Casella has produced auditing reports on 
sensitive, politically charged issues, notwithstanding 
evident risks to her personal safety.  Her steadfast 
devotion to concluding state-of-the-art audits of Kosovo 
institutions is intended to improve efficiency in 
government.  Along the way, her work product should prove 
useful to other international and Kosovar officials charged 
with ferreting out corruption and bias.  End Comment. 
 
GOLDBERG