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DE RUEHHE #0675/01 2481200
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R 051200Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY HELSINKI
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C O N F I D E N T I A L HELSINKI 000675 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2017 
TAGS: IZ FI PREL PGOV MARR MOPS PINR
SUBJECT: RESPECTED FINNISH NGO HOLDS IRAQ PEACE CONFERENCE 
 
REF: THOME-ANDERTON/DONEGAN/BISHARAT EMAILS 4 
     SEPTEMBER 2007 
 
Classified By: POLCHIEF GREGORY THOME FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
¶1. (U) The Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), a respected 
NGO headed by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, 
hosted a seminar at an undisclosed location in Finland 
Sept. 1-4 aimed at reducing the violence in Iraq. 
Participants included leading Iraqi Sunni and Shiite civil 
society leaders, as well as South African and Northern 
Irish representatives.  After examining reconciliation 
experiences in other parts of the world, Iraqi participants 
produced a document entitled the "Helsinki Agreement," 
which calls on the participants (inter alia) to resolve 
political disputes in Iraq through non-violent means and to 
build support among their respective religious, tribal and 
ethic constituencies for that goal (ref A).  The GOF funded 
the seminar, but did not participate in it. 
 
¶2. (C) For security and political reasons, CMI did not 
disclose the location of the conference and distributed to 
the press very little information about the gathering's 
substance or participants.  Even the Embassy's own contacts 
at CMI, who are normally very forthcoming, apologized for 
what they described as the need to be extremely careful 
about sharing information.  They were willing to confirm 
that representatives from Iraq's Sunni and Shia communities 
who may be parties to the violence participated; that 
President Ahtisaari himself did not participate; and that 
talks centered largely on looking at if and how Northern 
Irish and South African experiences might offer lessons 
learned that could be of use in reducing the violence in 
Iraq.  Beyond that, however, our CMI contacts were 
unwilling to confirm press reports that claimed that 
representatives of Moktada al-Sadr, Humam Hammoudi or Adnan 
al-Dulaimi attended, just as they were unwilling to confirm 
any other participants' identities.  (COMMENT: CMI's 
unwillingness to confirm participants does not necessarily 
mean that those individuals did not attend the conference. 
Many conference participants apparently demanded that no 
information -- substance of talks, participants, even 
travel arrangements -- be made public without the express 
agreement of all participants, and CMI intends to honor 
this request.) 
 
¶3. (C) Although he did not participate directly in the 
seminar, MFA Director General for the Middle East and 
Africa Teemu Tanner was briefed and offered PolChief a 
wider readout.  The event was "more academic than 
political," he said, both in terms of participants and 
substance.  Like CMI, Tanner would not confirm media 
speculation about who actually attended, but said he 
understood that it included largely academics and civil 
society types.  He characterized the event as "quite 
positive," in the sense that the Iraqi participants 
themselves came up with the points in the "Helsinki 
Agreement" and agreed that the next step was for them to 
take responsibility for returning to Iraq and building 
support for the agreed-upon measures within the groups they 
represent or are affiliated with.  If the participants are 
able to build support for the Helsinki Agreement among 
their constituencies in Iraq, Tanner said CMI would welcome 
the opportunity to host a follow-on event and that the GOF 
would fund it.  However, no follow-on meetings are 
currently scheduled. 
 
¶4. (C) The GOF and CMI were also pleased with the 
conference because any forward movement toward stemming 
violence in Iraq is a positive thing.  And if the Iraqi 
participants, upon their return, deploy the good ideas and 
same spirit of cooperation they evinced while in Finland, a 
series of follow-on meetings either in Iraq or here could 
help in moving some sort of constructive process forward. 
Tanner did caution that it is too early to call this a 
"peace process."  The media -- and particularly the Finnish 
press -- have been "overblown in their expectation of what 
can be achieved at a first meeting," he noted; if a 
"process" for peace is to emerge from CMI's effort, this 
was simply a first good step. 
 
5 (C) COMMENT: Tanner is realistic and correct when he 
notes that it is too early to call CMI's initiative a 
"peace process" (as some in the press were quick to do). 
However, it is indeed a welcome first step that could 
produce helpful results in improving stability down the 
road, if the Iraqi participants live up to their 
commitments.  CMI gained worldwide recognition for its 
effectiveness in conflict resolution after it successfully 
brokered a settlement to the decades-old conflict between 
Aceh rebels and the Indonesian Government in 2005.  While 
Iraq is a far different situation, we are encouraged by the 
Finns' willingness to play a role in helping to create an 
environment in Iraq from which stability might emerge. 
 
 
HYATT