US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI2877

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 002877 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/RA, NEA/NGA, PRM/ANE, AND IO/UNP 
KUWAIT FOR HOC AND ORHA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL N/A 
TAGS: EAID, PREL, PGOV, PHUM, IZ, TC 
SUBJECT:  UAE RED CRESCENT CONTRIBUTIONS TO IRAQ TOTAL MORE 
THAN USD $18 MILLION TO DATE 
 
REF: ABU DHABI 2303 AND PREVIOUS 
 
1.  (U) Summary and comment.  UAE Red Crescent Authority (RCA) 
Secretary General Sana'a Al-Kitbi forwarded to Econoff 6/15 a 
 
SIPDIS 
retrospective on the RCA's work in Iraq from the present 
until shortly before the war began.  The RCA has contributed more 
than USD $18 million in humanitarian supplies and services to the 
people of Iraq since November 2002, and continues to answer the 
Humanitarian Operations Center's appeals for emergency assistance. 
The RCA is forging ahead with is major hospital refurbishment 
program in Iraq, and has agreed to accept more Iraqi children for 
medical treatment in the UAE.  We expect the final price tag for 
RCA humanitarian assistance programs in Iraq to far exceed the 
USD $18 million already spent. 
End summary and comment. 
 
Phase I: Pre-War Stockpiling, $826,000 
-------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (U) A few months prior to the war in Iraq, and in response to 
appeals from the ICRC and the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, the 
UAE RCA sent four delegations between November 2002 and April 
2003 to help build emergency stockpiles of food and medical 
supplies in Iraq.  The RCA delegations purchased these products 
from the local economy, and either warehoused the goods or 
distributed them to hospitals and villages through existing United 
Nations distribution networks.  The value of this 
pre-war mission totaled about USD $826,000. 
 
Phase II: Emergency Humanitarian Aid, $5.5 Million 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
3.  (U) During and directly after the war, the RCA shipped 
more than 1700 tons of medical equipment and supplies, food 
parcels, dates, tents, emergency vehicles and four water tankers 
to Iraq in two separate shipments to Umm Qasr.  The RCA 
dispatched by road from Kuwait, Jordan, and Turkey 55 trucks of 
approximately 1100 tons of basic foodstuffs, shoes and clothing, 
mattresses, pillows, and blankets to Iraq.  The UAEG also donated 
three heavy trucks to aid other NGOs in Iraq with the 
distribution of their assistance.  More than 250 tons of dates 
were sent to Iraq by air from the UAE once military aircraft were 
permitted to land in Basrah and Baghdad. 
 
4.  (U) The RCA also contributed thousands of dollars to 
rebuilding the infrastructure in southern Iraq.  The RCA built 
a water treatment plant with 200,000-gallon capacity in Basrah, 
and has begun construction of three other water treatment plants 
with 25,000-gallon capacity in the surrounding areas. 
The RCA also donated a generator for the Saba Nissan water station 
on the Tigris river that provides clean water to 
approximately 1.5 million people.  The RCA likewise 
identified and refurbished an office in Iraq from which ICRC staff 
could operate, and donated to the ICRC a refrigerated truck for 
use in its medical logistic operations in Iraq. 
 
5.  (U) In the UAE, the RCA provided emergency food and shelter to 
hundreds of Iraqis who were stranded in Dubai at the onset of 
the war in Iraq.  The stranded Iraqis remained in Dubai until the 
beginning of June, at which time the RCA paid for 
the Iraqis to return to Iraq overland via Jordan.  This second 
phase of humanitarian assistance in Iraq cost the RCA more than 
USD $5.5 million. 
 
Phase III: Air Bridge, $1.6 Million And Counting 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
6.  (U) As reported reftel, the RCA began an "air bridge" of 
humanitarian flights to Baghdad, Basrah, and Mosul on 4/27 
to support Iraqi hospitals and dispatch about 255 
tons of medicines, medical items, children's nutrients and 
other necessities.  As of 6/3, the RCA had sponsored 17 such 
flights at a cost of more than USD $1.6 million. 
Post receives notification from the RAMCC that these RCA flights 
to Iraq continue on an almost daily basis. 
 
Phase IV: Hospital Renovation, $10.8 Million 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
7.  (U) In May, the RCA began the complete renovation and 
refurbishment of six hospitals in Iraq.  A UAE medical team headed 
this effort, and remains in Iraq to manage the administration of the 
Shaykh Zayid Hospital in Baghdad -- which the RCA rehabilitated in 
April.  The RCA's hospital rehabilitation program has 
cost nearly USD $10.8 million to date. 
 
Phase V: Treatment Of Wounded Iraqis...Priceless 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
8.  (U) The RCA has not yet estimated the total cost of 
evacuating in May nearly 40 wounded children and their parents 
to the UAE for medical treatment. The Humanitarian Operations 
Center (HOC) in Kuwait asked the RCA to arrange for and 
cover all costs associated with the special medical evacuation 
flights -- the first of which was a presidential Amiri flight -- 
accommodations and food for the parents while in the UAE, all 
related medical treatment and rehabilitation, and a return 
trip home once the patients have recovered.  Requests from the HOC 
continue, and the UAE may accept up to 25 additional patients 
identified by the HOC as requiring medical treatment available 
in the UAE. 
 
9.  (U) The RCA also is seeking more advanced medical treatment 
in the United States for one of the Iraqi patients, and is 
likely to cover the child's hospital costs and travel expenses. 
While at this point the total cost for medical treatment for these 
Iraqi patients is unknown, we estimate it is in the range of 
several million dollars. 
 
Wahba