VZCZCXRO8293
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #0678/01 0671122
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071122Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6106
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 0033
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 0019

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000678 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: IR ECON EFIN PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: ICI: BAGHDAD DONOR MEETING 
 
REF: A. IRFFI EXCOMM MINUTES NAPLES 01/24/2008 
     ¶B. BAGHDAD CLASS OI 03/03/2008 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  SUMMARY: UNAMI convened an informal donor meeting 
March 4 to: a) update Baghdad-resident donor reps on GOI 
preparation for the ICI first anniversary, b) brief on the 
January 23 IRFFI meeting in Naples, and c) brief a visiting 
EC delegation on a and b.  UNAMI Deputy Guy Siri and World 
Bank Country Manager Simon Stolp chaired the meeting. 
Delegations from the EC mission, UK's DFID, the Italian, 
Japanese, Australian, German and U.S. embassies attended. 
Stolp noted that the GOI has not convened all of the 
necessary ICI Thematic Working Groups to prepare the annual 
report, as instructed by DPM Barham Salih in a January 15 
memo.  Siri proposed that donors consider loosening the 
timeline for the annual report and delaying the first 
anniversary event from April to May or June.  Siri noted that 
the UN was considering alternative sites for the anniversary 
event -- including Stockholm and perhaps Madrid.  He said 
that DPM Salih would be discussing this with SRSG Gambari. 
 
2,.  (SBU)  SUMMARY CONTINUED.  The EC representatives 
expressed their strong skepticism at the level of GOI buy-in 
to the ICI.  The UN's Siri urged that while acknowledging 
shortcomings, donors should realize the ICI in its first year 
has advanced considerably.  Siri and donors agreed that we 
want to encourage the GOI to support the ICI, but that we 
need to avoid taking over the process or "overwhelming" the 
GOI with assistance to stand up the ICI Secretariat.  Siri 
presented a summary paper from the Naples IRFFI meeting which 
detailed seven proposed donor actions to support the ICI.  He 
also provided a set of proposed "advocacy points" on the ICI 
(para 11) which he invited donors to deploy in their 
discussions with GOI. One point left out of the advocacy 
paper but which he asked donors to consider was the need for 
the GOI to fund the ICI Secretariat with a line item in the 
national budget.   END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  UNAMI and the World Bank convened donors March 3 
for an informal meeting to go over status of GOI and donor 
preparations for the first anniversary of the International 
Compact with Iraq (ICI) and brief a visiting EC delegation. 
UNAMI Deputy Guy Siri and World Bank Country Representative 
Simon Stolp presided; Embassy representatives from Italy, 
Germany, Australia, Japan and the U.S. together with 
representatives from DFID and the local EC office represented 
Baghdad-resident donors. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Siri opened by commenting on the timing and venue 
of a ministerial event to mark the first year of the ICI. 
Noting that the GOI prefers that the event take place on 
April 22 in Kuwait in association with the expanded 
((Neighbors)) meeting, Siri said that UN staff is still in 
consultations with European countries and is considering 
Stockholm or possibly Madrid.  He said that DPM Barham Salih 
will discuss venue with SRSG Gambari soon.  Siri noted that 
it will be difficult for the UN and GOI to conclude 
preparations for a meeting by mid-April -- as the GOI's 
drafting of the annual report on progress against ICI 
benchmarks is not as advanced as was hoped.  He proposed that 
donors "reconsider the timeframe and content of the report." 
(Note: The GOI's first progress report, issued in July, 2007 
was a comprehensive look at GOI performance against ICI 
benchmarks, but was almost wholly produced by local World 
Bank staff). 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Siri said that some progress has been made -- the 
ICI Secretariat has grown to seven staff who split their time 
between ICI work and other GOI jobs, and the EC has deployed 
the first of its 4-5 planned technical advisors, but would 
wait to deploy the rest until the GOI has fully staffed the 
ICI Secretariat including the Policy Planning Unit.  While 
the DPM had asked for UNAMI support the Iraqi government 
Thematic Working Groups (TWGs), UNAMI will not staff them, as 
it does not want international staff to be doing what Iraqi 
staff should be doing.  Italian Embassy rep Nicola Bazzani 
reminded donors that Italy on a bilateral basis had provided 
since June of 2007 a technical advisor to the ICI Secretariat. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Stolp briefed on the functioning of the GOI's 
TWGs.  DPM Salih had sent detailed instructions to line 
ministries in a January 15 memo, complete with draft forms to 
be filled out to prepare for drafting the ICI annual report. 
Stolp said some TWGs had met and, while other TWGs had not 
met formally, there had nevertheless been inter-ministerial 
meetings to discuss ICI benchmarks.  When asked whether those 
meetings had resulted in any progress toward drafting the 
GOI's annual report, he said no -- but he and his staff would 
help complete those portions.  (Note: missing are the draft 
assessments of progress againt economic reform and resource 
 
BAGHDAD 00000678  002 OF 003 
 
 
management benchmarks, both TWGs chaired by Ministry of 
Finance.  Per ref b, we previously asked to urge the MinFin 
to convene these TWGs. End note.) 
 
¶7. (SBU)  The head of the visiting EC delegation, RELEX 
Director Tomas Dupla de Morel, expressed his strong 
skepticism that the GOI had demonstrated its "buy in" to the 
ICI and wondered if we were focusing too narrowly on the 
annual report instead of pressing the GOI on the broader 
issue of supporting the ICI process.  The Australian Embassy 
rep questioned whether placing the ICI Secretariat in DPM 
Salih's office was hobbling its ability to build capacity - 
especially as it still hasn't gotten a separate budget. 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  Stolp agreed that donors should press DPM Salih 
and others in the GOI to step up their support for the ICI. 
The EC rep opined that the GOI's support for the ICI appears 
to be "just a show" for the international community, and 
there is no understanding or support for it among GOI 
bureaucrats.  Stolp and Siri insisted the there is high level 
support for the ICI in the GOI, but agreed that this 
"ownership" needs to be shifted to lower levels.  In that 
regard, Siri produced a paper of "advocacy points" on the ICI 
for donors to use in their contacts with the GOI (Note: see 
text at para 5).  Siri said he supported pressing the GOI for 
a budget line item for the ICI Secretariat, but that he had 
left it off the paper, commenting that Salih had told him 
that he preferred not to get into a budget fight just now. 
 
¶9.   (SBU)  There ensued some discussion of whether the DPM's 
office was the best place for the Secretariat to reside, and 
whether the PM's Office or COMSEC might not offer a more 
securely supported roost.  The COMSEC option looked favorable 
as it already contained a policy planning unit that the UK's 
DFID was supporting with technical assistance.  The EC-funded 
technical advisor to the ICI Secretariat is drafting an 
"institutional map" in order to propose a formal linkage 
between the Secretariat and the PM's Office.  Discussants 
agreed however that donors are limited to advocating for the 
ICI with the GOI, but the GOI itself must make such 
operational decisions. 
 
¶10.  (U)  Turning to a readout of the January 23 Naples IRFFI 
meeting, Siri reviewed the seven proposed donor actions (ref 
A), most of which focus on supporting the capacity of the ICI 
Secretariat (e.g DVC equipment, translation booths, funding). 
 
SIPDIS 
 Siri was not supportive of UN funding for the Secretariat 
but he believed that the other elements of the paper were 
good.  Stolp intends to set up a working group to coordinate 
and expand existing DVC capacity.  Siri and Stolp both 
committed to conducting monthly informal donor meetings in 
Baghdad. 
 
 
¶11.  (U)  UNAMI's proposed advocacy points: 
 
Begin Text. 
 
ADVOCACY POINTS ON THE INTERNATIONAL COMPACT WITH IRAQ 
 
The directions outlined in the ICI have been decided by the 
Iraq Government and belong to Iraq. 
 
While the ICI is supported by the international community, 
the benefits are first and foremost for the Iraqi people. 
 
Likewise, renegotiation of external debt benefits Iraq's 
economy and people.  Although debt forgiveness is not 
necessarily conditioned upon the Government's political, 
security and economic achievements, there is an implied 
conditionality. 
 
The Government of Iraq must therefore show progress against 
the achievement of the ICI benchmarks that the international 
community has pledged to support.  The international 
community encourages the Government to make further efforts 
to ensure that its activities and achievements are 
consistently and clearly communicated. 
 
The international community appreciates that the 
establishment of a strong Compact Secretariat, and strong 
implementation and donor coordination mechanisms, will take 
some time.  However, development partners emphasize that the 
Government assign similar priority to the implementation of 
the ICI, and therefore the structures that support this, as 
it assigns to the achievement of debt relief.  The 
achievement of Compact benchmarks is of commensurate 
importance. 
 
The Compact Secretariat should seek to establish broader 
 
BAGHDAD 00000678  003 OF 003 
 
 
cross-government linkages.  In order to support the 
Government in achieving ICI benchmarks, the Compact's 
Secretariat will need to liaise widely among Ministries and 
 
SIPDIS 
draw upon the analytical and political resources vested in 
other bodies of Government.  These include, but are not 
limited to, the Council of Ministers Secretariat (COMSEC), 
and the Prime Minister's Office. 
 
Development partners encourage the Government of Iraq to 
strengthen inter-ministerial coordination and cooperation in 
its implementation of the Compact. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CROCKER