Letter jay to turnbull iraq uk support for reconstruction

www.fco.gov.uk 25 July 2003 Dean Andrew, IRAQ: UK SUPPORT FOR RECONSTRUCTION 1. Much has happened since I wrote to you on 22 April setting out the need for volunteers to help in the post-war reconstruction of Iraq, supporting what was then the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) and subsequently became the Coalition Provisional Administration (CPA). I want to take the opportunity before the summer break to give an update on the collective support we have been able to provide, thank you and Permanent Secretary colleagues for making good staff available and outline our thinking on next steps. 2. We received a very strong response from across the public service to the initial call for volunteers. I am very grateful to departments for allowing their staff to come forward and making them available. In all we have been able to train and deploy a total of over 100 civilian staff from sixteen different branches of government - an exercise which I believe has no modern precedent. We now have 65 UK public servants working in the CPA Headquarters in Baghdad, and nearly 30 in the CPA South East Office in Basra, where the Coalition reconstruction effort is closely aligned with that of UK military forces. Small numbers are also working in the CPA regional offices in central and northern Iraq. 3. Despite some unfavourable headlines, the CPA has made solid progress since the arrival of Paul Bremer as Coalition Provisional Administrator in May. The key Ministries have been re-established, public employees - including over 30.000 policemen - have returned to work, and the new Governing Council has begun to develop a credible Iraqi-led political process. UK secondees have contributed to the work of the CPA in areas as DECLASSIFIED auguster task. Overall, it has been a fine performance, and one which has been appreciated both by the US Administration and in No 10. Next steps 5. We are now looking at how we build on this successful first stage. Ministers have agreed that we should maintain approximately the current level of overall commitment. They have also decided that as the CPA matures we should focus our efforts in Baghdad on Security Sector Reform, the economic ministries and the oil sector, all of which are vital to achieving the Prime Minister's vision of a democratic and peaceful Iraq. We will also go on providing key enablers to the CPA at the centre (especially in the legal and press offices). Outside Baghdad. we are taking a stronger lead in the CPA South East in Basra (and are about to send Hilary Synnott, late High Commissioner in Islamabad as Head of the regional office). We will the Governorate Teams (GTs) which from also be leading four of he leadine four the the one a To the eighten provinces or Iraq. 6. To manage this effort we have established a liaison office working to our Special Representative in Baghdad (now John Sawers, Jeremy Greenstock from September). This reports in to a new CPA Operations Team within cross-Governmental Iraq Policy Unit based in the FCO. Operations Team is • supported by . These arrangements should allow us to put our secondments on a focussed and sustainable basis, and provide secondees with the appropriate support for service in what will remain a difficult and unpredictable environment. In doing so, we are. ensuring we debrief the first group of secondees as they return to ensure we learn the right lessons from their experiences on the ground. 7. The reconstruction of Irag will remain a high national priority in the medium term. We will continue to need to provide good human resources if the CPA is to succeed. As reconstruction proceeds we expect more of this requirement to be met with staff engaged under contract from outside DECLASSIFIED are now implementing the new security arrangements recommended by the joint FCO/DFID security advisory team. The safety of our people and fulfilment of our duty of care towards them will remain of prime importance. 9. I am copying this to Wednesday morning colleagues. Yours eve, Micha Michael Jay DECLASSIFIED