The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
means that
30 April will now … see the completion of our current military
mission”.1137
That process
is described in greater detail in Section 9.7.
1214.
On 15 June,
Mr Brown announced details of the UK’s new bilateral
relationship
with Iraq,
stating:
“On the day
of the last combat patrol in April, I welcomed Prime Minister
Maliki
and most of
his Cabinet to London. We signed together a declaration of
friendship,
partnership
and co‑operation defining the new relationship between our
two
countries
for the future. At the request of the Iraqi Government, a small
number of
British
Navy personnel – no more than 100 – will remain in Iraq for
long‑term training
of the
Iraqi Army. Royal Navy ships will continue to protect the oil
platforms on which
Iraq’s
exports depend, and we will continue to offer training to the Iraqi
Army as part
of a wider
NATO mission. We will also offer training opportunities at
Sandhurst and
elsewhere
in the United Kingdom for Iraqi officers of high
potential.”1138
1215.
In April 2009,
the MOI capacity‑building programme was transferred to the
US.1139
The UK
continued work on policing under the Criminal Investigations and
Policing
project,
funded by the Middle East and North Africa Conflict Fund. The
programme in
2009 had a
budget of £7.1m and comprised three elements:
•
the
civilian police mission in Baghdad with four officers, working with
the
Baghdad
Police Academy to help the IPS develop investigative
techniques;
•
the
civilian police mission in Basra with three officers;
and
•
the
forensics element in Basra, Baghdad and Erbil with two
officers.
1216.
On 23 May
2006, Ms Aldred wrote to UK staff in Basra asking them for
advice on
how to
improve the situation in Basra.1140
Attached to
the letter was “a strategic agenda
for
action”. The paper gave a series of policy objectives (see Section
9.5) and stated
that to
achieve them there would need to be continuing UK Government
engagement
on SSR
to ensure that the ISF were capable of:
“•
tackling
criminality;
•
bearing
down on militias;
1137
Letter
Hutton to Brown, 20 April 2009, ‘Iraq: End of Current Military
Mission’.
1138
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 15 June
2009, columns 21‑22.
1139
Paper
Stabilisation Unit [junior official] and Howlett‑Bolton, 27
November 2009, ‘Review of the support
to the
Ministry of Interior and Iraqi Police Service
Programme’.
1140
Letter
Aldred to Lamb, Cooper & Kavanaugh, 23 May 2006, ‘Basra: The
Way Forward’ attaching Note,
[undated],
‘Getting Basra Better: A Strategic Agenda for Action’.
338