VZCZCXRO4179
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHBS #0802/01 1601139
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091139Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9048
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 000802 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EUR/WE AND NEA/I 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL EINV EPET BE IZ
SUBJECT: BELGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER DE GUCHT'S MAY 27-28 
VISIT TO IRAQ 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht 
traveled to Iraq on May 27-28.  While Belgium has been absent 
from Iraq for several years, his visit indicates a new 
willingness to be more active and cooperative with efforts to 
build security and good governance in the country.  De Gucht 
met with Prime Minister Al Maliki and Foreign Minister 
Zebari, as well as U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill, and 
traveled to Erbil to meet with Kurdish officials.  He found 
the Iraqis eager to convince him of growing stability and 
investment opportunities.  He was accompanied by some Belgian 
companies on his trip, and reportedly a contract for water 
treatment plant construction was signed.  De Gucht encouraged 
the Iraqis to develop gas routes into the Nabucco pipeline 
project, but did not find great enthusiasm for the idea.  At 
his own request, he met with Wijdan Mikhail Salim, Minister 
for Human Rights, mainly to encourage Iraq to reduce or 
eliminate its reliance on the death penalty.   End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On June 3, Emboffs met with the Jean-Luc  Bodson, 
Deputy Chief of Staff for the Foreign Minister, and Yves 
Rogister, Middle East Desk Officer, to discuss Belgian 
Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht's recent trip to Baghdad. 
Bodson said that the visit was the first by a Belgian Foreign 
Minister to Iraq since 1990.  He blamed Belgium's unfavorable 
attitude toward U.S. actions in Iraq under the Bush 
Administration for Belgium's diplomatic absence from the 
Iraqi capital since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 
¶2003.  At that time, Bodson said, the feeling was that 
Belgium "had nothing to offer."  Now Belgium is becoming more 
interested in the reconstruction of Iraq, Bodson said. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Note: Rogister has previously supplied us with the 
following data on Belgian assistance to Iraq: 
 
-- One million euros in the framework of the Consolidated 
Appeal (CAP) for Iraq through OCHA. This contribution is 
earmarked for UNHCR operations helping Internally Displaced 
Persons (IDPs) in Iraq. 
 
-- 250,000 euros for Mine Advisory Group (MAG), an NGO active 
in the field of mine clearing in the Kurdistan Region of 
Iraq, in the area close to the Iraqi-Iranian border. 
 
-- 250,000 euros for the UN General Trust Fund in order to 
finance the "middle ring" of the UNAMI's Protection Force. 
 
--  Training in Belgium for Iraqi magistrates in the 
framework of the EU's EUJUSTLEX program.  End Note. 
 
¶4. (SBU) De Gucht's visit has been in the works for the past 
one to two years, partly influenced by Belgium's membership 
in the UN Security Council, but it had been slightly delayed 
by the December 2008 governmental crisis in Belgium.  The 
purpose of the visit, Bodson said, was to take stock of the 
leadership in Baghdad, build bilateral  trust, and seek out 
investment opportunities for Belgian businesses.  The FM met 
with a large number of top officials in Iraq: Prime Minister 
Nouri Al-Maliki, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Mahmud Zebari, 
Minister of Human Rights Wijdan Mikhail Salim and newly 
arrived U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill.  Bodson said that 
the Iraqis were eager to convince De Gucht that the situation 
in Iraq is well on the way to stabilizing and that he should 
support investment by Belgian companies in the country. 
Bodson observed, however, that wearing of protective helmets 
and vests was still required outside the green zone in 
Baghdad.  He was pleased that the feeling of danger was much 
reduced in Erbil, Kurdistan region, which was the only city 
De Gucht visited outside Baghdad. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Besides investment, Maliki and Zebari sought 
Belgium's assistance in building confidence with Saudi 
Arabia, which is not comfortable with Iraq's increasingly 
Shia identity.  They also were interested in reduction or 
elimination of reparation payments for the 1991 war owed to 
Kuwait.   They discussed the status of Kirkuk with De Gucht. 
Bodson said that the Belgians hope that the UN Commission 
working there will help find solutions to allow people to 
live in greater harmony.  De Gucht heard complaints about 
Iranian meddling in Iraq, and that the Iranians' influence is 
not for the better.  In Erbil, De Gucht's message to the 
Kurds was that Belgium understands the problems there.  The 
Kurdish authorities emphasized that their future is inside 
Iraq, despite deep wounds of history.  They do seek much 
greater autonomy, Bodson said.  They expressed a desire for 
better relations with Turkey and rejected the PKK, although 
they are having a hard time controlling the anti-Turkish 
rebels in remote border regions near Turkey.  Bodson was 
impressed by the boom in construction in Erbil and the 
obvious, albeit unequally distributed, wealth on display. 
 
BRUSSELS 00000802  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) De Gucht specifically requested to meet with Human 
Rights Minister Salim.  He protested the frequency of 
executions and urged the eliination of the death penalty 
under Iraqi law.  He told Salim that he worries the stock ofinternational good 
will toward the Iraqi government is eroded 
by continuation of the death penalty.  Salim said that 
although she was personally uncomfortable with the death 
penalty, given the high level of violence in the country 
popular will supports keeping it as a legal punishment. 
 
¶7. (SBU) De Gucht had a meeting with U.S. Ambassador 
Christopher Hill.  He appreciated Hill's frank assessment of 
the situation in Iraq. 
 
¶8. (SBU)  A few Belgian companies accompanied De Gucht. 
Bodson said that Belgian companies, particularly from 
Flanders, are interested in investment opportunities in 
Iraq's infrastructure such as waste water treatment, 
electrical engineering, and port management.  He said that 
one contract had been signed during the trip, which 
reportedly is for construction of 13 water treatment plants 
in Baghdad.  It is possible that there could be a Belgian 
trade mission to Iraq, encouraged by the example of a recent, 
successful Korean mission that led to the opening of new 
hotels in Baghdad. 
 
¶9. (SBU) De Gucht encouraged the possibility that Iraqi gas 
could flow into the Nabucco pipeline project.  Bodson said 
the idea was not met with great enthusiasm.  In Erbil, the 
Kurds expressed frustration with Baghdad's reluctance to 
allow oil and gas export projects to move forward quickly. 
Belgium sees potential investment opportunities in Iraq's oil 
and gas industry, Bodson said. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Asked what the next steps are for Belgian-Iraqi 
relations, Bodson said that Belgium has no immediate plans to 
open a Belgian Embassy.   Its Charge d'Affaires has been 
accredited to Iraq, however, and the Foreign Ministry plans 
to give him enough funds to travel to Baghdad twice a year. 
The GOB will continue to support governance projects in Iraq, 
including EUJUSTLEX, and its contributions to UNHCR for 
assisting refugees in Jordan and Iraq.  It also has accepted 
fifty Iraqi refugees (women at risk, and Palestinians) for 
resettlement in Belgium and is willing to consider taking 
more in the context of a European framework for dealing with 
the issue.  Bodson also mentioned that Belgium has already 
canceled 80 percent of Iraq's 300 million euro debt to 
Belgium. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Comment: Belgium is a long way from being a major 
player in Iraq issues, but De Gucht's visit signals an 
increasing interest in being more active and cooperative with 
efforts to build security and good governance in the country. 
 End Comment. 
 
BUSH 
.