US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT1969

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KUWAIT 001969 
 
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 ASSESSMENT OF ANAH AND KHAN AL 
BAGHDADI 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  DART Field Team West conducted an assessment of the 
village of Anah on 28 April.  Although the visit was 
abbreviated, the DART was in town long enough to determine 
that electricity was functioning, water was flowing in the 
piped system, the PDS was in place and functioning, and the 
health center was in good condition with full staff and 
adequate supplies to meet emergency needs.  On the return to 
Ar Rutbah, the DART stopped in the village of Bagrami and 
spoke briefly to some of the inhabitants.  Also on 28 April, 
the DART met with World Vision staff in Ar Rutbah to discuss 
possible projects in the health sector.  End Summary. 
 
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GENERAL CONDITIONS IN ANAH 
-------------------------- 
 
2.  Anah is located adjacent to the Euphrates River on the 
main road between Ar Ramadi and Al Qa'im, along the Syrian 
border.  Anah is a planned community of between 12,000- 
15,000 people living in houses that were constructed in 
1986. The Wakil (public distribution system agent) stated 
that the population of Anah had been forced to relocate to 
this present location from its original site due to the 
construction of the hydroelectric dam at Al Qadisia.  The 
old village is now underwater. 
 
3.  According to the town's hospital director, 20 civilians 
were killed during the war and 10 to 15 were injured.  These 
injuries and deaths occurred on the road to the Syrian 
border.  The doctor reported that Anah's post office was hit 
by an aerial bomb, but the DART was not able to verify this 
information.  The main bridge leading to the town from the 
east was also reportedly hit.  In contrast, the Wakil stated 
that Anah had not witnessed military action and there was no 
damage to the town caused by the conflict. 
 
4.  Until water returned to pre-war levels on 28 April, 
generators pumped water in the town for four hours a day. 
Electricity also returned to full strength on 28 April, 
generated by the Al Qadisiy dam in Haditha.  Conditions are 
"near normal," according to the hospital director.  Still, 
post-conflict problems exist.  The hospital director listed 
Anah's top four problems as reduced security, no inter-city 
communications, the destroyed bridge, and no propane cooking 
fuel, although there is sufficient and affordable kerosene 
gas.  The hospital director said that ministry employees 
have not been paid since before the war.  They have heard 
via television messages that staff would be paid by the end 
of the month.  Food prices have increased since the war 
began while selection has decreased because of diminished 
supply lines with Baghdad. 
 
5.  The town has formed a group of seven to ten elders to 
"manage" services.  Their influence is questionable.  Anah 
has established a lightly armed security force for 
protection against looters.  The reduced police force has 
limited impact.  Despite this vacuum, the town did not face 
looting because residents prevented opportunistic outsiders 
from entering.  The hospital has guards armed with machine 
guns.  Surrounding villages, however, have crime, and the 
road from Anah to Haditha has had problems with car thieves. 
 
6.  None of Anah's schools are operating, and it is unclear 
when they will reopen.  The town is awaiting word from Ar 
Ramadi before classes reconvene.  The town has four primary 
schools, with boys attending in the morning and girls in the 
afternoon.  There is one intermediate school for boys and 
one for girls, and an unknown number of high schools. 
 
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FOOD IN ANAH 
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7.  According to a Wahil in Anah, the PDS system is 
functioning and food supplies are adequate.  Their most 
recent delivery on 26 April was the first since the war 
started.  It included full rations of sugar, detergent, and 
soap, and half rations of oil, beans, and flour.  They also 
received one-quarter ration of milk.  Anah receives its food 
from the warehouses in Ar Ramadi and is served by 32 Wakils 
and 14 flour agents. 
 
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HEALTH CONDITIONS IN ANAH 
------------------------- 
 
8.  Electricity and running water returned to pre-war levels 
at the Anah General Hospital and to the entire city of Anah 
on 28 April, according to the hospital director Dr. Tarik. 
The hospital is the only health facility for the town's 
15,000 residents and the neighboring village's 2,000 
inhabitants.  There are 10 doctors, one of whom is a woman, 
and three nurses.  The only pharmacy is at the hospital, and 
there is no nutrition rehabilitation center. 
 
9.  According to the hospital director, the hospital's drug 
supply will last for roughly one more month.  The staff has 
already begun to economize.  "If a patient needs three 
items," the director said, "we give him two."  Prior to the 
war, the hospital maintained an adequate supply by ordering 
a two-month supply of drugs from the governorate 
pharmaceutical hub in Ar Ramadi.  Oxygen, too, is short, and 
is likely to run out in two weeks.  Over the last two weeks, 
MSF-Switzerland made two visits to the Anah Hospital from 
Damascus and promised to deliver essential drugs within two 
weeks. 
 
10.  Malnutrition is a "problem," according to the 
hospital's director, especially for children from the 
surrounding villages.  One month ago, the hospital received 
a supply of therapeutic milk from CARE, but it has since run 
out.  Acutely malnourished children are now transferred to 
Ar Ramadi, 130 kilometers (km) away. 
 
11.  Among children, gastro-intestinal cases are the primary 
concern, with a slight increase since the war and an 
expectation of a further increase with the onset of warmer 
temperatures.  During the colder months, upper respiratory 
infections are the biggest problem.  The hospital director 
said whooping cough was also prominent in the area with one 
to two cases reported per week and a small increase since 
the war. 
 
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SECURITY 
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12.  Anah's population is notably religious and clearly 
apprehensive in the presence of foreign assessment teams. 
The DART split in two, one to look at food, the other to 
look at health.  One town elder made a particular point 
to the food team that the town had produced numerous 
government officials who had served in the former government 
and that the people of Anah were proud of this statistic. 
At the end of their discussion, the DART's 
driver/interpreter noted several antagonistic discussions 
among the group near the vehicle.  DART ended the discussion 
and vacated the area. 
 
13.  Upon departing the hospital, the health team noticed 
two guards armed with machine guns.  A man approached the 
DART vehicle with a 250 dinar note. "Take this," he said, 
"This is a souvenir from Saddam.  Saddam will come back. 
Allah won't let us down.  After things settle down, 
Saddam will resurface and kick you (Coalition) out.  Saddam 
was bad, but he was better than you.  It's better to have a 
bad Muslim than you." 
 
14.  The DART regrouped and left town immediately with no 
further incident. 
 
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GENERAL CONDITIONS IN KHAN AL BAGHDADI 
-------------------------------------- 
 
15.  Khan Al Baghdadi, population 18,000, is midway between 
Heet and Haditha on the Euphrates River.  The town has 18 
schools, some with former Baath Party teachers afraid to 
return to the schools, according to a Turkman English 
teacher from Al Baghdadi.  The schools remained closed 
because staff and teachers await instructions to open the 
schools from the Ministry of Education, or a government 
official, or anyone it seems except for someone within their 
own ranks. 
16.  The English teacher said there was "peace" in town now 
and no problems.  The electrical supply is now at pre-war 
levels.  During the war it ran sporadically.  Water, he 
said, had always come from the adjacent Euphrates 
River and was not problematic.  The teacher mentioned that 
he wanted five things for his town: security, peace, an 
improved hospital, freedom, and democracy. 
 
17.  The teacher and his family escaped to Khan Al Baghdadi 
in 1987 from Government of Iraq-directed terror in the 
northern governorates.  His family now runs a restaurant 
along the Euphrates.  They do not receive food rations 
because they left their family's card with relatives who 
remained in the north.  He said that one former Khan Al 
Baghdadi teacher recently returned to town following six 
years in Libya when he heard Saddam Hussein was gone. 
 
18.  Prior to the war, the town had 25 to 30 police 
officers.  There are now three.  The hospital is small with 
only one doctor and two assistants because residents rely on 
the Ar Ramadi hospital about 50 kms away. 
 
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MEETING WITH WORLD VISION INTERNATIONAL 
--------------------------------------- 
 
19.  In Ar Rutbah, the DART met with World Vision 
International (WVI) staff to discuss immediate needs in the 
health sector for Ar Rutbah.  WVI delivered some non-food 
items and medical supplies to the clinic on 27 April.  WVI 
is interested in possibly submitting an implementation plan 
to DART under its cooperative agreement.  WVI expressed 
interest in supporting the clinic and working with local 
health officials to put in a temporary facility to replace 
the hospital, which was destroyed by Coalition bombing.  WVI 
also expressed interest in health education focusing on 
unexploded ordnance (UXO) awareness.  UXOs are 
a major problem in Ar Rutbah.  Twelve people have been 
seriously injured since the end of the war in UXO-related 
incidents in Ar Rutbah. 
 
JONES