VZCZCXRO2984
PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
DE RUEHKU #1537/01 2911248
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181248Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0156
INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 1895
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 1034

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 001537 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
OES/STC, NEA/ARP, 
AMMAN FOR BHALLA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV PGOV PREL TBIO KU
SUBJECT: IRAQI GOVERNMENT LOOKS TO U.S., KUWAIT AND ROPME 
FOR HELP WITH ENVIRONMENT 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  A group of Iraqi officials visited Kuwait 
in September for a roundtable on Iraqi environmental issues 
initiated by the Regional Organization for the Protection of 
the Marine Environment (ROPME).  This roundtable, part of a 
series of meetings between ROPME and Iraq, served as an 
opportunity for Iraqi officials to discuss environmental 
concerns in Iraq and ask for assistance with equipment and 
training for the relevant ministries.  ROPME and Kuwait, as a 
member of ROPME, offered assistance with training, assessment 
and monitoring. The Iraqis, in turn, asked the U.S. military 
to provide resources to upgrade delapidated Iraqi pipelines 
and ports, and provide equipment to handle environmental 
crises.  Kuwait voiced its concerns over spill-over effects 
of the war in Iraq on Kuwaiti water quality.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) ROPME Executive Secretary Abdul Rahman Al-Awadi told 
Econoff on September 30 that the September 8-11 roundtable 
was organized as part of a series of meetings to find 
solutions for regional pollution and environmental 
degradation resulting from the war in Iraq.  Representatives 
from the Iraqi Oil Ministry, Ministry of Environment, and 
Ministry of Transportation attended the roundtable.  The 
Acting Director of the Environment Public Authority (EPA) and 
Director of Marine Pollution Monitoring Department 
represented the GOK.  US military and civilian 
representatives from NAVCENT, the U.S. Coast Guard, and 
Combined Task Force 59 (a multinational task force operating 
in the northern Persian Gulf region) attended as observers. 
This series of meetings was organized following Iraq's 
readmission to ROPME in 2005 after almost 15 years of 
exclusion.  EconOff met separately with ROPME Executive 
Secretary on September 30 and EPA Acting Director on 
 
SIPDIS 
September 24 for readouts of the Iraqi roundtable. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Al-Awadi clarified that the roundtable focused on 
basic strategies for tackling Iraq's enviromental problems. 
Iraqis are not yet ready for technical discussions or 
concrete plans to address specific areas of concern, he said. 
 A significant amount of foundation-building is needed before 
specific concerns can be addressed.  Iraqi officials 
mentioned that a budget of $100 million will be needed for 
equipment and training to handle disasters.  As a starting 
point, three major objectives were discussed: 
 
--  Make environmental concerns a governmental priority in 
Iraq.  Al-Awadi lamented that due to the current situation in 
Iraq, pollution and environmental disasters are low on the 
list of priorities for the Iraqi government.  EPA Director 
Ali Haider said that the Iraqis are so overwhelmed with 
security concerns that there is no time to focus on 
environmental issues.  Moreover, he said, the Iraqi Minister 
of Environment is not taken seriously and very little is 
being done to address the critical environmental problems 
faced by Iraq.  It is crucial, he said, that the Iraqi 
government and the U.S. military spend time and resources on 
addressing some of these issues. 
 
--  Procure equipment needed to manage ports and oil 
pipelines.  Iraqis need to upgrade the equipment at ports 
used for loading oil on to ships.  Oil leakage and spillage 
at the ports due to deterioration of loading equipment is a 
critical problem that needs immediate attention.  Significant 
improvements also need to be made to the pipelines to avoid 
spillage into the marine environment.  There are also a lot 
of substandard ships coming into Iraqi ports.  The Iraqi 
government needs to place tighter controls on the quality of 
ships entering its ports.  ROPME asked the U.S. military to 
provide equipment and resources for training and equipping 
the Iraqis. 
 
--  Hire, train and equip personnel to effectively respond to 
environmental crises.  Ali Haider claimed that there are very 
few environmental experts working in the relevant ministries 
in Iraq.  As a result, there are almost no technical or 
policy experts to take the lead in these ministries.  More 
importantly, they do not have any training to deal with a 
crisis.  ROPME has offered assistance to the Iraqis to train 
personnel in all relevant agencies dealing with marine 
pollution.  GOK, as a member of ROPME, has offered training 
to the Iraqis, specifically for government officials in the 
Ministries of Oil, Transportation and Environment.  According 
to EPA officials, Kuwaiti EPA offered the Iraqis "any help 
they need with training, assessment or monitoring." 
 
4,  (SBU) Ali Haider said that "the Amir himself has given 
 
KUWAIT 00001537  002 OF 002 
 
 
the relevant ministries the green light to offer training and 
support to the Iraqis" to deal with the environment.  He 
admitted that this is mainly because Kuwait is worried about 
the spill-over effects of Iraqi marine pollution. 
 
Kuwaiti Concerns regarding Iraq 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Major areas of concern for Kuwait are pollution 
levels in the Shatt Al-Arab, sunken vessels and other 
pollutants in Iraqi waters, and condition of Iraqi pipelines. 
 Historically, the Shatt has served as the only source of 
fresh water to Kuwait.  However, in recent years, it has 
suffered devastating contamination from Iranian and Iraqi 
shipping.  This is exacerbated by increased pollution due to 
the war in Iraq.  EPA officials worry that the Shatt al-Arab 
has deteriorated from being a source of fresh water to a 
source of pollution to the Kuwaiti marine environment. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Sunken vessels in Iraqi waters are "an environmental 
nightmare," Haider contended.  There are several vessels 
filled with gasoline, diesel, batteries and other pollutants 
buried in Iraqi port waters.  This has made navigation 
through Iraqi waters extremely hazardous.  A massive regional 
effort has to be undertaken to clean up the port waters. 
Kuwait urged the Iraqi government to make removal of 
obstructions to navigation a priority.  Kuwait is also 
concerned about the condition of Iraqi oil pipelines.  Ali 
Haider argued that Iraqi pipelines and equipment are so old 
and delapidated that they are disasters waiting to happen. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Haider complained that although Kuwait is eager to 
support Iraq, it is hard for the GOK to move from discussion 
to action.  The biggest problem, he suggested, in Kuwaiti 
cooperation with Iraqis on this or any other issue is the 
lack of continuity in Iraqi ministries.  He said that the 
Kuwaiti EPA has talked to various Iraqi officials in the past 
but they were unable to follow through on any plans because 
of frequent turnover in Iraqi ministries. 
 
 
********************************************* * 
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s 
 
Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
********************************************* * 
MISENHEIMER