US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT2412

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 002412 
 
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 
ANKARA FOR AMB WRPEARSON, ECON AJSIROTIC AND DART 
AMMAN FOR USAID AND DART 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID, PREF, IZ, WFP 
SUBJECT:  DART NORTHERN IRAQ UPDATE 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  DART Field Team North visited Dahuk on 20 May and met with 
the regional governor.  MOHAC and UNOPS are discussing IDPs and 
return issues, and UNOPS has been conducting a survey of IDPs in 
northern Iraq.  The DART traveled to Zemmar in Ninawa governorate 
on 22 May to attend a meeting to discuss how the current harvest 
would be shared and plans to purchase a portion of the harvest. 
At the request of WFP, the DART met with Coalition forces at the 
Tall'Afar silo, approximately 70 kilometers west of Mosul.  WFP 
plans to import approximately 136,000 MT of wheat to the Mosul 
area from Syria in 5,000 MT per day increments beginning in the 
next few days, and storage space is needed.  End Summary. 
 
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DART MEETING WITH DAHUK REGIONAL GOVERNOR 
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2.  On 20 May, the DART met with the regional governor in Dahuk, 
Mr. Nechirvan Ahmed.  The governor was critical of Coalition 
forces for bringing back Ba'athists to Domiz, a Dahuk suburb. 
Arabs who were living there fled during the conflict and the 
Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) took over the town.  However, on 7 
May, Coalition forces evicted Kurds who had recently moved into 
Domiz and began allowing the Arabs to return. 
 
3.  The DART later visited Domiz, a somewhat run-down Western- 
style development that was originally built by a French oil 
company.  Coalition forces in Domiz explained that Kurds had 
recently bought 54 houses and that there were around 160 Kurdish 
families out of 900 in the town. 
 
4.  The governor also noted the importance of the regional 
harvest being purchased but was unsure of U.N. Security Council 
Resolution 986 restrictions.  The DART informed the governor that 
restrictions on local purchases in the northern governorates were 
no longer in effect, and that a plan was being prepared to 
purchase part of the harvest. 
 
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MINISTRY OF HUMANITARIAN AID AND COOPERATION 
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5.  The Ministry of Humanitarian Aid and Cooperation (MOHAC) 
hosted its weekly coordination meeting on 21 May.  Non- 
governmental organizations continue to arrive in northern Iraq 
and are using this meeting to introduce themselves to the rest of 
the humanitarian community.  While the MOHAC meetings serve a 
purpose, there is widespread interest in reducing the number of 
sectoral meetings held each week (there are meetings every day). 
This issue was discussed, and MOHAC and the Civil Military 
Operations Center (CMOC) will be looking at options, such as 
rotating meetings or having monthly or bi-weekly vs. weekly 
meetings.  A suggested schedule will be presented in the near 
future. 
 
6.  MOHAC and the United Nations Office for Project Services 
(UNOPS) are now discussing internally displaced persons (IDPs) 
and return issues.  UNOPS has been conducting a survey of IDPs to 
determine where they live, where they plan to return, and when 
they plan to return.  UNOPS was scheduled to present the results 
at a 17 May meeting in Arbil, but asked for more time to compile 
the results of their survey. 
 
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE 
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7.  On 22 May, the DART traveled to Zemmar in Ninawa governorate 
to attend a meeting to discuss how the current harvest would be 
shared between the Arabs and the Kurds and upcoming plans to 
purchase a portion of the harvest.  The meeting was chaired by 
Coalition forces and attended by governorate and local officials 
and local Kurdish and Arab leaders.  While the Coalition 
spokesperson acknowledged that the land issue was an extremely 
critical one, with a history of "over 30 years of oppression," he 
said that it would have to be resolved in the courts, after the 
harvest, not in the meeting.  At the appropriate time, he said, 
claimants would produce land and ancestry documentation, and 
ownership would be resolved and enforced by the rule of law. 
 
8.  Despite the Coalition representative's efforts, much of the 
discussion still centered on land issues.  There was much tension 
between the Kurdish and Arab participants, and the Arabs at one 
point stood up en masse to walk out of the meeting (but ended up 
sitting back down). 
 
9.  The Coalition representative announced that the current 
harvest purchase prices were USD 80 per MT for wheat and USD 60 
per MT for barley.  He noted that he had personally told the 
Presidential Envoy to Iraq, Paul Bremer, that these were too low, 
and he hoped they could be raised to USD 105 per MT for wheat and 
USD 65 per MT for barley.  Arab farmers expressed displeasure 
that these prices were still too low, noting that the wheat price 
received last year, 150,000 Old Iraqi Dinar per MT, was now 
equivalent to approximately USD 150 per MT. 
 
10.  While neither side was happy with the Coalition-proposed 50 
- 50 split of the harvest between the original (Kurdish) owners 
and those who currently control the land (Arab farmers), the 
Coalition representative announced that there would be no further 
discussion on the issue. 
 
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VISIT TO TALL'AFAR 
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10.  At the request of the United Nations World Food Program 
(WFP), whose international staff cannot access grain silos 
outside of Mosul in Ninawa governorate due to U.N. security 
restrictions, the DART visited the Tall'Afar silo, approximately 
70 kilometers west of Mosul.  There they met with Coalition 
forces and Iraqi staff at the complex.  WFP plans to import 
approximately 136,000 MT of wheat to the Mosul area from Syria in 
5,000 MT per day increments beginning in the next few days, and 
storage space is needed. 
 
11.  The silo was not looted as it was protected by local 
security guards (it is now protected by Coalition forces) and 
currently functions well.  Its 33 bins have a capacity of 
approximately 75,000 MT, with outer underground and open bin 
capacity of approximately 50,000 MT. 
 
12.  Staff at the silo noted that the complex currently held 
approximately 50,000 MT of wheat, and was releasing around 800 MT 
daily to Mosul mills. The staff believed that it could receive 
1,000 MT per day (shoveled out manually).  Up to 1,500 MT per day 
could be received if two shifts were employed, as often is 
arranged at the peak of the harvest season.  The silo staff did 
receive the USD 20 emergency payments, but they are concerned 
about their salaries. 
 
13.  Regarding the WFP Oil for Food incoming stocks, the silo 
authorities were informed that they would receive 25,000 MT at 
1,000 MT per day.  They stressed that this should not present a 
major problem.  In short, the Tall'Afar silo appears ready to 
receive the quantities proposed by WFP, but WFP staff will need 
to be present during the offloading to prevent any delays, which 
requires a relaxing of the current security restrictions for WFP 
international staff. 
 
JONES