VZCZCXRO4428
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #1871/01 1721447
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 201447Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7894
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001871 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PINS KCRS IZ
SUBJECT: PRT SALAH AD DIN:  UN STEPS UP EFFORTS IN SAMARRA 
BUT LOCALS SEE FEW BENEFITS 
 
Classified By: PRT Salah ad Din Team Leader Rick Bell for reasons 1.4 ( 
b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (U) This is a PRT Salah ad Din reporting cable. 
 
¶2.  (C) Summary.  The United Nations (UN) has dramatically 
increased its activity in Samarra over the last several 
months.  The main focus of UN activities in Samarra has been 
on reconstruction of the Golden Mosque.  While the increased 
activity is welcome, many Samarrans say that UN and GoI 
efforts revolve solely around Golden Mosque (a Shia shrine in 
a Sunni town), providing no tangible improvements in the 
quality of life for the residents of that city. End Summary. 
 
Golden Mosque Key UN Focus 
-------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) The United Nations, through UNESCO, UNDP and UNOPS, 
has dramatically stepped up its efforts in the city of 
Samarra.  The increased UN efforts have been enhanced by 
close cooperation and coordination with the Mayor of Samarra, 
Chairman of the Iraqi High Commission for Restoration of the 
Al Askari (aka Golden) Mosque and the Samarra PRT office. 
Until recently the only UN project in Samarra was a high 
profile engineering study and initial site clearing efforts 
which were necessary to begin renovation of the Mosque.  The 
restoration of the Mosque, a World Heritage Site, is 
supported by the population of Samarra.  UNESCO will manage 
the restoration, with funding from GoI and oversight by the 
High Commission for the Restoration of the Al Askari Mosque, 
which reports directly to Prime Minister Maliki.  A Turkish 
engineering company, Uklem, completed site and engineering 
studies in May and a yet-to-be-selected Iraqi company will 
begin full reconstruction efforts, which will take up to five 
years to complete. 
 
¶4. (C) The UN is undertaking a number of other initiatives in 
the Samarra.  The UNDP has received $1.2 million in donor 
funds to implement three projects in Samarra district: 
refurbishment and expansion of the General Hospital; 
installation of a water treatment unit; and construction of a 
major park and family recreation area for the Al Moatasem 
sub-district.  In addition, donor funding is supporting the 
development of a Samarra recovery and development plan.  This 
effort is underway and will allow a broad cross-section of 
civic, private-sector, security, and provincial leaders to 
provide input in developing what will become the guiding 
document for future development of the city and future 
international donor aid.  The PRT is working closely with 
UNDP to ensure the success of the effort. 
 
Locals Wonder About the Mosque and How the City Gets Fixed 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) The residents of Samarra, nearly all Sunni, complain 
that all the attention is focused on the Shia Mosque.  The 
recent announcement by Prime Minister Maliki of $63 million 
for Mosque reconstruction, with no money for other needs in 
Samarra, confirmed the perception of residents that the only 
interest the Shia-led GoI had in Sunni Samarra was in the 
Shia Mosque.  This announcement came at a time when security 
in the city had improved immeasurably, due to the support of 
residents for the efforts of Iraqi Security and Coalition 
Forces.  At the same time, that support and the resulting 
improvements in security have not yielded improvements in 
essential services. Almost no money from the Provincial 
budget has reached the city, despite constant requests from 
the PRT and Coalition Forces to Provincial officials to get 
projects started. 
 
¶6. (C)  The only significant efforts outside of the Mosque 
are those related to $11 million in DFI funds. Currently held 
by the GoI, those funds have been the subject of squabbling 
between the GoI and the Province since 2006.  The largest 
share of those funds will go towards the construction of five 
municipal buildings.  An engineering and design contract for 
those projects has been signed, and funds are available for 
the actual construction, which will begin later this year. 
However, Provincial leaders are unhappy that this money is 
being spent without their input, which was envisaged under 
the initial agreement on DFI spending. 
 
¶7.  (C) Samarra residents receive no official information on 
what happens inside the Golden Mosque reconstruction zone, 
leaving speculation and rumor to fill the gap.  One rumor 
often heard by the PRT and by the Mayor and City Council 
President is that Iran is directly involved in the rebuilding 
of the Mosque.  Despite assurances from Haq al-Hakim, 
Chairman of the Iraqi High Commission for Restoration of the 
Al Askari Mosque, and Sheik Sohail Dawood (a former resident 
of Samarra and now Principal Consultant to UNESCO) to the 
contrary, the lack of visible focus on meeting the needs of 
 
BAGHDAD 00001871  002 OF 002 
 
 
the population undermines those denials. 
 
¶8.  (C) More problematic is that there is no systematic 
effort to examine and improve the process that would deliver 
on these promises.  While the Province has begun in earnest 
to integrate its capital-planning strategy with its vision 
for the Province, there is no complementary strategy for 
improving the ability of provincial and local ministry 
representatives to actually execute the projects envisioned 
in the strategy.  Ministries have significant challenges at 
the Baghdad level that limit their ability to train and 
supervise their provincial and local employees. 
 
¶9.  (C) Some steps have been made to rectify this information 
gap.  The recent incorporation of Samarrans working on 
rubble-removal teams inside the Mosque compound (the Mosque 
is surrounded by T-walls) has helped.  The teams are made up 
of 60-75 workers from cities throughout Iraq rotated 
bi-weekly to work at the site.  The reconstruction efforts 
now also include a permanent team of equipment operators from 
Samarra. 
 
¶10. (C) Comment:  We cannot overstate the need for the 
overwhelmingly Sunni residents to feel that the GoI is 
focused on meeting their needs as well as rebuilding the 
Mosque.  UN efforts on the Mosque rebuilding are extremely 
welcome and a key piece of stabilizing the city.  However, an 
overcautious approach on rebuilding in other parts of the 
city, based on security perceptions from six months ago, has 
the potential to inflame the population.  The most 
high-impact target for their rage would be the Mosque itself. 
 Another incident at the Mosque would pose the risk of a 
resurgence of the sectarian violence that engulfed the 
country after the bombings in 2006.  UNESCO, to its credit, 
is working with CF and the PRT to place six engineers in the 
PRT offices at Patrol Base Olsen in Samarra.  The UN should 
be encouraged to quickly move forward with these efforts, 
recognizing that security has greatly improved.  The PRT and 
CF continue to push provincial officials who are reluctant to 
execute projects from the 2008 budget because they feel that 
they have been shut out of GoI efforts and because Samarra 
has no Provincial Council members to advocate on the 
Samarra,s behalf.  All those with an interest in Samarra 
must act quickly, lest the Samarran public lose patience and 
withdraw its support from the authorities. 
 
CROCKER