US embassy cable - 04AMMAN479

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000479 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR IO, NEA AND PRM 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/20/2014 
TAGS: PREL, EAID, ASEC, IZ, JO, UNSC 
SUBJECT: UNAMI OFFICIALS HINT DEPUTY SRSG FOR IRAQ WILL BE 
BASED IN AMMAN; UPDATE UN SECURITY AND STRATEGIC PLANNING 
ISSUES 
 
 
Classified By: DCM David Hale, per 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  Although the UN has not yet decided where 
to base Deputy Special Representative for Iraq Ross Mountain, 
UNAMI staff have been instructed to establish a  17-person 
"coordination cell" to support his activities in Amman. 
Mountain will oversee UN operational and program issues in 
Iraq and will begin a visit to Amman on January 28.  UNAMI 
expects Mountain will push for an "early" trip to Iraq. 
UNAMI reported that the UN interagency security mission to 
Iraq will focus on bringing one installation -- likely the 
Canal Hotel -- up to UN security standards to facilitate the 
reentry of international staff to Iraq, but UNHCR reported 
that UNSECOORD will focus on reentry to Basra.  UNAMI expects 
UNHAS to resume flights to Iraq at the end of January. 
UNAMI's nearly complete strategic plan for Iraq awaits 
political guidance from UN NY, while program-focused UN 
agencies are turning to international NGOs and private 
contractors to deliver services in Iraq.  End summary. 
 
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SRSG Brahimi and Deputy SRSG Mountain: 
Cyprus/Amman Split and a Possible Trip to Iraq? 
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2.  (C) UNAMI Humanitarian Officers Maggs Mac Guinness and 
Maura Lynch (protect) reviewed still-evolving UNAMI 
operational plans with visiting PRM and CPA officers and 
regional refcoord on January 18.  According to Mac Guinness, 
UN Special Representative for Iraq Lakhdar Brahimi will focus 
on the UN's broader political role and human rights issues 
and Deputy SRSG Ross Mountain will focus on operational and 
program issues.  While SRSG Brahimi will be based in the UN 
protected zone in Cyprus, UNSYG Annan has not yet decided 
where Deputy SRSG Mountain will be based.  UNAMI staff expect 
that Mountain will spend a great deal of time in Amman, as 
they have been instructed to set up a 17-person "coordination 
cell" in Amman to support the Deputy SRSG's activities.  Mac 
Guinness said program-focused UN agencies had argued 
unsuccessfully that both Brahimi and Mountain should be based 
in Amman in order to maintain access to Iraq and the UN's 
humanitarian partners, access viewed by agencies as key to UN 
"credibility" in Iraq.  UN agencies, according to Mac 
Guinness, were deeply disappointed by the SYG's decision to 
locate the SRSG in Cyprus. 
 
3.  (C) Until SRSG Brahimi is "fully up and running," Deputy 
SRSG Mountain is expected to spend most of his time in 
Cyprus.  Mac Guinness said Mountain will arrive in Cyprus on 
January 24 but will make a short trip to Amman beginning on 
January 28.  She was unsure where Mountain would be based in 
Amman, as none of the UN buildings in Amman meet Minimum 
Operating Security Standards (MOSS).  Mac Guinness predicted 
that Mountain would also push UNSYG Annan to permit him to 
make an "early" trip to Baghdad. 
 
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Security Mission to Iraq, 
Resumption of UNHAS Flights 
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4.  (C) As reported in the press, a UN interagency security 
mission is expected to go to Iraq soon to conduct an 
assessment of UN installations' MOSS compliance.  According 
to Mac Guinness, the four-person team will focus on bringing 
one Baghdad installation -- most likely the Canal Hotel -- up 
to MOSS compliance in order to serve as the focal point for 
the gradual re-entry of UN staff.  The team will also look at 
UN installations in the north and south.  (In a separate 
January 18 meeting, UNHCR/Iraq Chief of Mission Yacoub El 
Hillo reported that UNSECOORD also would lead an interagency 
security assessment to Basra, focused on bringing a facility 
near the port to MOSS compliance in order to serve as a base 
for UN staff.)  Mac Guinness added that the UN had received 
funding from the European Union to complete security upgrades 
to UN installations in Iraq, while the UK's Department for 
International Development provided funding for staff security 
training. 
 
5.  (C) In a separate security development, Mac Guinness 
reported that the UN's C-130 (on loan from the Netherlands) 
had been upgraded with further anti-missile capabilities and 
was due to resume Amman-Baghdad flights at the end of 
January.  The UNHAS Beechcraft (currently being used to 
respond to the Bam earthquake) also is due to resume flights 
to northern Iraq at the end of January. 
 
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Strategic Plan Needs Political Framework 
While UN Programs Continue with NGOs and Contractors 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
6.  (C)  Mac Guinness said that work on the programming 
aspects of the UN's strategic plan for Iraq was nearly 
complete but that decisions had not yet been made in NY 
regarding the UN's overall political role in Iraq.  Without 
that overarching framework, she said, the UN's strategic plan 
was simply a list of activities.  And even if the UN came to 
agreement on its role following UNSYG Annan's January 19 
meeting with Ambassador Bremer and the Iraqi Governing 
Council, any planning documents would constitute at best a 
"rolling strategy."  Who knows, Mac Guinness mused, what the 
UN's role in Iraq would be after June 30? 
 
7.  (C) In the meantime, UN agencies are finding new ways to 
deliver services in Iraq.  In addition to using international 
NGOs as implementing partners, the UN also is hiring private 
contractors to deliver services.  UNICEF, for example, has 
engaged 800 contractors to deliver assistance.  Mac Guinness 
added that many ex-UNOCHI staff (let go after completion of 
the Oil-for-Food program) have started new private companies 
to fill the void left by UN agencies. 
 
8.  (U) CPA Baghdad minimize considered. 
GNEHM