VZCZCXRO7032
OO RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHRO #0705 0960949
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 060949Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7630
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0284
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE PRIORITY 2309
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN PRIORITY 8543
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES PRIORITY 2461
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 2856
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS ROME 000705
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR S/I AND NEA/I
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL EAID PGOV IZ IT
SUBJECT: IRAQ: DE MARTINO PREVIEWS LESSONS LEARNED
CONFERENCE
1. Summary. Amb. Gianludovico De Martino, Italian MFA Iraq
Task Force Director, told poloff that the Italian proposal
for a lessons learned conference would focus on three topics:
successful transition of security responsibility to Iraqi
authorities, increased focus on PRTs as a tool in
distributing and monitoring assistance, and an increased
linkage between the Iraq Compact and PRTs. The conference,
tentatively scheduled for mid-May in Italy, would include the
participation of representatives of governments (including
the Iraqi Government), international organizations and civil
society organizations with in-country experience. End Summary.
2. On April 5, De Martino outlined for poloff his plan for
an Iraq lessons learned conference in Italy tentatively
scheduled for mid-May. De Martino hoped to encourage
attendance by all coalition partner nations, significant Iraq
Compact nations, international organizations, and civil
society organizations with in-country experience in Iraq.
The first objective of the conference would be to focus on
the successful transition of security responsibilities to
Iraqi authorities focusing on the Italian experience in
Nassyriah and the UK experience in southern Iraq - i.e. not
concentrating on pacifying Iraq, but rather, focusing on
increasing Iraqi institutional capability to deal with
persistent security threats. The first part of the security
discussion will include only government officials from
coalition partner nations. The second part of the security
discussion would also involve Iraqi government officials.
3. The second objective of the conference would be to
encourage greater use of PRTs by international donor
organizations. De Martino noted that many international
organizations, including the UNDP and EC, could benefit
greatly by embedding teams or officials in the PRTs to take
advantage of the existing networks, experience and
infrastructure. In many parts of the country, PRTs
represented the only international presence. Additionally,
PRTs already understand the economic, infrastructure and
humanitarian requirements of the provincial governments and
have experience monitoring assistance funds.
4. The final objective of the conference would focus on
making efficient use of the Iraq Compact. De Martino hinted
that he might want to lead a discussion about the possibility
of linking the on-the-ground experience of the PRTs to the
Iraqi Compact funding framework. This part of the conference
would depend on developments in launching the Iraq Compact.
5. De Martino stated that an agenda and proposal for
participants would be distributed next week, but welcomed any
recommendations for civil society participants and agenda
points.
SPOGLI