US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT1288

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KUWAIT 001288 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO PASS USAID/W 
STATE PLEASE REPEAT TO IO COLLECTIVE 
STATE FOR PRM/ANE, EUR/SE, NEA/NGA, IO AND SA/PAB 
NSC FOR EABRAMS, SMCCORMICK, STAHIR-KHELI, JDWORKEN 
USAID FOR USAID/A, DCHA/AA, DCHA/RMT, DCHA/FFP 
USAID FOR DCHA/OTI, DCHA/DG, ANE/AA 
USAID FOR DCHA/OFDA:WGARVELINK, BMCCONNELL, KFARNSWORTH 
USAID FOR ANE/AA:WCHAMBERLIN 
ROME FOR FODAG 
GENEVA FOR RMA AND NKYLOH 
DOHA FOR MSHIRLEY 
ANKARA FOR AMB WRPEARSON, ECON AJSIROTIC AND DART 
AMMAN FOR USAID AND DART 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID, PREF, IZ, WFP 
SUBJECT:  TFIZ01: DART/PRM SITUATION REPORT 6 APRIL 2003 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  On 4 April, DART members in Umm Qasr met with Coalition 
forces, who provided an overview of the situation in the 
town. According to Coalition forces, 1,500 to 2,000 people 
from Basrah have moved to Umm Qasr.  On 3 April, one 
Emergency Health Kit was sent from the OFDA warehouse to a 
hospital in Al Nasiriyah.  The new three-kilometer pipeline 
that was laid from inside the Kuwaiti border to near Umm 
Qasr is experiencing problems related to traffic management 
and tanker access to the pipe stand.  The DART has briefed 
ORHA and USAID Mission staff on DART plans for southern 
Iraq.  The DART's APU has also continued to meet with NGOs 
and Coalition forces to coordinate on issues of abuse 
prevention and protection.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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DART UPDATES FROM UMM QASR 
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2.  On 4 April, DART members in Umm Qasr met with Coalition 
forces, who provided an overview of the situation in the 
town.  According to Coalition forces, 1,500 to 2,000 people 
from Basrah have moved to Umm Qasr and are living with 
family or friends as a result of fighting in Basrah. 
Coalition forces also said that most Baath party members 
have fled Umm Qasr.  On 3 April, residents burned down a 
house owned by a Baath party supporter.  The same residents 
had planned to burn down several other homes but were 
dissuaded by one of the village elders. 
 
3.  Coalition forces emphasized that the international 
community could demonstrate its goodwill by arranging to 
send in affordable supplies of protein-rich foods, such as 
meat, eggs, and dairy products.  According to Coalition 
forces, despite visits and promises by numerous delegations 
from civilian and military organizations, no substantial 
assistance has yet been delivered to the residents of Umm 
Qasr. 
 
4.  In addition to questioning residents at the town market 
about their needs, the DART located a Public Distribution 
System (PDS) agent in the crowd and introduced him to 
representatives from the World Food Program (WFP).  The PDS 
agent said that 30 food agents once operated in the town, 
and that they are all eager to go back to work.  The men in 
the crowd nodded in agreement, and said the food agents were 
`good people', simply shopkeepers assigned by the Iraqi 
government to distribute food.  The PDS agent interviewed by 
the DART and WFP had distributed food to 200 families, or 
about 600 people, and offered to arrange a meeting with the 
other food agents in town.  The DART offered to facilitate 
the meeting next week, when the WFP team is expected to 
return. 
 
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HEALTH 
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5.  On 3 April, one Emergency Health Kit was sent from the 
OFDA warehouse to Al Nasiriyah.  This kit was delivered to a 
hospital in Al Nasiriyah by Coalition Forces.  Two more kits 
were sent by Coalition aircraft on 5 April to Basrah.  These 
kits will be forward positioned at Coalition warehouses 
until delivery is authorized by the DART.  Emergency Health 
Kits will be made available to non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs), as needs are identified, with strict 
criteria for their use.  The DART will closely monitor the 
distribution and identify appropriate healthcare providers 
to receive the kits. 
 
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WATER 
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6.  According to the United Nations Children's Fund 
(UNICEF), the immediate concerns in southern Iraq are water 
and education.  UNICEF sent five water tankers into Basrah 
on 4 April and is continuing to supply water to Umm Khayyal, 
Safwan, and Az Zubayr.  UNICEF hopes to reestablish contact 
with its small contract staff in Basrah. 
 
7.  The new three-kilometer pipeline that was laid from 
inside the Kuwaiti border to near Umm Qasr is experiencing 
problems related to traffic management and tanker access to 
the pipe stand.  The pipe stand is located within a high 
priority area, and only one tanker at a time is allowed into 
the compound, which creates a bottleneck of water tankers 
waiting and departing on very narrow side streets.  In 
addition, the larger tankers (24,000 to 32,000 liters) 
contracted by UNICEF are having difficulties accessing the 
water pipe stand because of the small space.  According to 
the HOC's water engineer, the stand is open daily for twelve 
hours and is producing 6,000 to 8,000 liters per hour, or 
about 100,000 liters per day.  Until second and third water 
stands are added and the traffic congestion problem is 
resolved, the daily output of the pipeline will remain at a 
fraction of its intended output. 
 
8.  One of the water pipelines from Basrah that supplied Umm 
Qasr with wash water appears to be working as water is 
flowing from the pipeline into one of Umm Qasr's four water 
holding tanks for the first time since the war began. 
However, without the water treatment plant and pumps 
working, the Basrah pipelines will not be able to provide 
potable water to Umm Qasr. 
 
9.  On 5 April, the DART facilitated a meeting on 
water/sanitation at the Humanitarian Operations Center (HOC) 
with representatives from relief, reconstruction, and civil 
affairs.  The agenda focused on bridging operational 
coordination until U.N. agencies are fully operational, 
especially UNICEF who has the lead on the health and 
water/sanitation sectors.  Protocols will be developed and 
presented to the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian 
Assistance (ORHA), among others. 
 
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USG COORDINATION 
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10.  On 5 April, the DART's Deputy Leader briefed ORHA 
leadership on anticipated DART movement into southern Iraq. 
The briefing covered the staffing and area of responsibility 
of the DART's Southern Field Office.  ORHA was also briefed 
on the funding mechanisms that have been put in place and 
how commodities will be distributed in order to provide a 
quick response to the humanitarian needs of impacted 
populations throughout Iraq.  The security conditions 
required for DART movement into Iraq, and the fact that DART 
interventions would be assessment-driven and needs-based, 
was stressed to the audience. 
 
11.  The DART's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) 
representative briefed each of the three regional 
coordinators from ORHA, and their respective staffs, on the 
DART's planned operations and modalities for small grants 
activities in Iraq.  The DART also circulated program 
documents outlining planned procedures for design and 
implementation of grants.  The briefings were well received 
by ORHA coordinators. 
 
12.  DART OTI representatives also met with USAID's 
Reconstruction Team in an effort to coordinate with its 
upcoming local government program, which is expected to 
begin mobilization by mid-April.  The DART is working on 
coordinating database development for grants in Iraq.  The 
reaction of the Reconstruction Team to the DART's plans has 
been positive, and the need for close coordination of both 
programs has been underscored. 
 
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ABUSE PREVENTION UNIT 
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13.  On 2 April, the DART Abuse Prevention Unit (APU) met 
with ORHA's Human Rights Working Group (HRWG).  The HRWG 
discussed the creation of a Human Rights Ombudsperson for 
Iraq that would be a central repository of past human rights 
abuses.  This information could be used for a future truth 
and reconciliation commission or whatever judicial 
procedures are established after the transition period.  The 
APU also discussed the implications that the dissolution of 
the Umm Qasr governing and judicial system, in addition to 
the food distribution system, has for protection and other 
transitional issues. 
 
14.  On 4 April, the APU met with a senior U.S. Central 
Command (CENTCOM) civil-military operations planner.  The 
APU inquired about Coalition plans for a police force in the 
event that the local police flee and the justice system 
dissolves.  According to CENTCOM, there is no theater-wide 
plan for giving all regions military police, as conditions 
in each village will be different. 
 
15.  On 5 April, the APU met with human rights and 
humanitarian organizations including Physicians for Human 
Rights, Refugees International, the American Refugee 
Committee, and the Iraqi Refugee Aid Council (IRAC).  ORHA's 
Human Rights Officer also participated.  The group discussed 
unconfirmed reports of executions in southern Iraq received 
from civilians using satellite phones. 
Though these reports are unconfirmed, they have been 
received through non-governmental organization (NGO) 
networks and are believed to be fairly reliable sources. 
The APU will attempt to confirm them. 
 
16.  IRAC also reported on its previous efforts to secure a 
comprehensive computer database from the Iraqi General 
Security Organization that contains elaborate records of all 
civilians arrested, where they were imprisoned, and whether 
or not they have been killed.  IRAC provided the location of 
this database, and the APU is making it a top priority to 
pass this information to Coalition Forces.  The APU also has 
information on the location of the property registry office 
that holds all public and private property documents in 
Baghdad.  Securing these documents is also a priority, and 
the APU will work with Coalition Forces to that end.  IRAC 
pointed out that meticulous paper records have also been 
kept at the local level. 
 
JONES