US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA1550

UNCLAS OTTAWA 001550 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: IZ, EG, JA, ASEC, PREL, UN, FAC 
SUBJECT: DEMARCHING INVITEES TO THE US-EU INTERNATIONAL 
CONFERENCE ON IRAQ 
 
REF: SECSTATE 93742 
 
1. This is an action request, see para. 6. 
 
2. Poloff delivered reftel points to Ann Flanagan-Whalen, 
Deputy Director for the Middle East Division of Foreign 
Affairs Canada.  Ms. Flanagan-Whalen said FAC has not yet 
received the EU invite and was pleased to get the detail 
which we provided.  She said that assuming Canada is invited 
to the Cairo PrepComm, in addition to one individual from 
FAC, Ottawa would like to send the Director of the Canadian 
International Development Agency (CIDA) Iraq Task Force.  She 
also assumes that Canadian Ambassador Michael Bell, Chair of 
the International Reconstruction Fund for Iraq will be 
invited. 
 
3. Ms. Flanagan-Whalen said that Canada was pleased with the 
appointment of Ambassador Bell because of the central role he 
can play to improve donor coordination, and start to shift 
the file more directly to the Iraqi government.  In addition 
to better horizontal integration of donor activities, Bell 
hopes to ensure a smooth transition leading into the Amman 
conference in July, without any gaps in assistance.  She 
mentioned, for example, that there are some 55 countries 
involved in the training of Iraqi diplomats, but there is not 
a central coordinating body or mechanism for ensuring 
consistency of how the training is provided.  Flanagan- 
Whalen also mentioned her understanding that Japan was taking 
on the lead role of the working groups on reconstruction. 
She asked who would be heading up the three subgroups in the 
conference (political, economic/reconstruction, and 
security). 
 
4.  Flanagan-Whalen asked if we had any ideas on the draft 
communique that we were prepared to share.  She said that in 
the coming days Canada would share with us some ideas in the 
area of donor coordination. 
 
5. With regards to the drafting of the constitution and the 
political process, Flanagan-Whalen said that Canada remains 
dedicated to helping advance the process in any way possible. 
 Elections Canada remains committed to assisting with the 
coming rounds of elections, although Elections Canada 
director Jean Pierre Kingsley will, of course be distracted 
by any domestic electoral activity.  Flanagan-Whalen said she 
did hope that the referendum and the election, which are 
scheduled very close together, are synchronized in terms of 
process and registration.  She also mentioned that the 
Canadian Forum of Federations was working with NDI on a 
project of federalism training or seminars for Iraq.  She 
stressed the importance of selling the constitution to the 
Iraqi people in terms of public education, which will play an 
essential role in the ultimate success of the political 
process. 
 
6. Flanagan-Whalen also mentioned that the Canadian 
Ambassador in Amman would soon be dual-accredited to serve 
also in Iraq.  Canada will continue to have a liaison officer 
in Baghdad with only a few officers there until the security 
situation allows for the establishment of a full diplomatic 
presence. 
 
7. Action Request: Ms. Flanagan Whalen asked the following 
questions for which we promised a response: 
 
--    Any advance thoughts on the draft communique. 
--    Who will be the heads of the three conference subgroups 
and any other information on the organization of the 
conference. 
 
      An e-mail response to Poloff Keith Mines would suffice. 
 
8. Minimize Considered. 
 
Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa 
 
DICKSON