US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT1415

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 001415 
 
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 SITUATION REPORT 13 APRIL 2003 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  The issue of milling of the Australian-donated wheat has 
yet to be resolved as WFP cannot proceed with milling until 
the negotiations with OIP are completed.  Representatives of 
the IRAC reported that documents have been completely looted 
from GOI intelligence offices in Umm Qasr.  DART members met 
for the second time with the newly designated village 
council in Umm Qasr on 12 April.  A Coalition assessment of 
the power situation in Najaf revealed that fuel consumption 
at the power plant is much greater than earlier indicated. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
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FOOD 
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2.  The first ship containing Australian-donated wheat, the 
Pearl of Fujairah, is now berthed at Kuwait's commercial 
port with 39,500 metric tons (MT), having offloaded 10,500 
MT at the military port.  The discharge of the wheat is 
expected to take approximately five days.  The second ship, 
the Andromedra, remains off the coast of Oman. 
 
3.  The World Food Program (WFP) is looking into milling 
capacity in Iraq, as Kuwait's capacity is only 400 MT per 
day.  Basrah's capacity was 1,600 MT per day, and the mill 
in An Nasiriyah also appears functional.  The most likely 
solution to the issue of milling the Australian wheat will 
be some combination of Kuwaiti and Iraqi mills.  However, 
WFP cannot proceed with milling until the negotiations 
between the Office of Iraq Program (OIP) and WFP have been 
completed. 
 
4.  The DART food team met with the newly arrived WFP Senior 
Program Officer from the WFP/Iraq operation on 11 April.  An 
additional eight to ten WFP program staff will be arriving 
over the next week in Kuwait and will move into Iraq as soon 
as security permits.  The DART discussed how to 
appropriately balance the tasks of addressing immediate food 
needs and reviving the public distribution system (PDS). 
WFP's Senior Program Officer also traveled to Umm Qasr on 12 
April to meet with the assembled village leaders and food 
agents. 
 
5.  DART and WFP held a second meeting with the Kuwait Red 
Crescent Society (KRCS) on 11 April.  KRCS asked WFP for 
guidance in conducting distributions.  Also discussed was 
the possibility of the KRCS providing complementary 
commodities to what WFP would be providing through the PDS, 
such as canned meat or fish.  KRCS is very open to this and 
has funding to make purchases. KRCS is also preparing to 
collaborate with the Iraqi Red Crescent Society once it re- 
emerges. 
 
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ABUSE PREVENTION UNIT 
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6.  Representatives of the Iraqi Refugee Aid Council (IRAC) 
reported that documents have been completely looted from 
Government of Iraq (GOI) intelligence offices in Umm Qasr. 
IRAC also repeated what many news organizations have 
reported over the last two days: widespread looting across 
the country has scattered many of the documents (e.g., 
property records, birth certificates, and intelligence 
documents) that could be used to reconcile volatile disputes 
and help establish the true extent of prior abuses by the 
GOI. News reports indicate that documents in some Baghdad 
hospitals have been destroyed. 
 
7.  Coalition forces investigating the warehouse where 
hundreds of bodies were discovered outside of Umm Qasr used 
the USAID Field Guide to Preventing, Mitigating and 
Responding to Human Rights Abuses as a reference in their 
investigation. 
 
8. On 12 April, a DART Abuse Prevention Officer (APO) 
traveled to An Nasiriyah with a DART advance party for a 
three-day assessment trip.  The APO will make contact with 
Coalition forces operating in the area and meet with local 
leaders to assess patterns of abuse and vulnerable segments 
of the population. 
 
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TRANSITION INITIATIVES 
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9.  The DART's Transitions Officer and grant administrators 
met for the second time with the newly designated village 
council in Umm Qasr on 12 April.  A list of equipment and 
supplies needed for the council to become fully operational 
was developed and plans to provide office space were 
discussed.  In addition, requirements for refurbishing a 
primary school were examined.  A follow-up meeting is 
planned for next week. 
 
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COALITION ASSESSMENT OF POWER IN AN NAJAF 
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10.  Coalition forces conducted an assessment of the power 
situation in An Najaf on 10 April.  The assessment revealed 
that fuel consumption at the power plant is much greater 
than earlier indicated.  The plant requires 2,000 gallons of 
natural gas per day per megawatt produced.  The holding tank 
on site has a capacity of 200,000 gallons.  The primary fuel 
line for this plant runs from Basrah, but pressure in that 
line is dropping.  Coalition forces were informed that if 
the natural gas flow from Basrah can be restored, the power 
plant in An Najaf as well as plants at other locations will 
be self-sustaining and operational.  Coalition forces are 
investigating the status of the natural gas pipeline coming 
to An Najaf from Basrah. 
 
JONES