12.1 |
Security Sector Reform
1518.
A
‘Transitional Plan Update’ issued from Maysan on 27 December stated
that the
proportion
of recruits who had completed basic training had risen to 70.5
percent, in line
with the
2005 training target.1388
1519.
On 20 January
2006, Mr Tansley provided an update on the readiness of
Maysan
for
handover to Iraqi control.1389
It stated
that the Iraqi Army was of “adequate standard”
though
suffered from logistical issues; the DBE was “inadequate in size
(7,000)” but
was “judged
to be acting effectively”; and reform of the police was “going
well” despite
a
100 percent growth in numbers (due to an MOI employment
generation initiative) and
militia
(mainly Badr) affiliation.
1520.
In his review
of UK support to policing in Iraq on 31 January (described earlier
in
this
Section), Sir Ronnie Flanagan concluded that Maysan province
should “be capable
of moving
to Operational Overwatch at the earliest
opportunity”.1390
1521.
On 28
February, Captain Richard John Holmes and Private Lee Ellis were
killed
in an
IED attack in a joint Snatch and Warrior vehicle convoy in
al‑Amara.1391
1522.
At a meeting
between MNF representatives and the Chief of Police on 2
March,
it was
agreed that such attacks should not be seen as a way of prising the
relationship
between the
ISF and MNF apart.1392
1523.
The Chief of
Police had also reported difficulties with the Head of the OMS
in
Maysan who
“wanted to commit acts of terror, but the Governor was trying to
keep a lid
on the
strife”. It was thought that extremist elements were “attempting to
gain kudos and
standing in
the community” by attacking the MNF.
1524.
Dr Howells
visited Iraq in March. An FCO briefing pack for his meeting with
the
Muthanna
and Maysan Chiefs of Police stated that the proportion of trained
police in
Maysan had
increased to 86 percent.1393
Security
conditions were “less favourable”
than in
Muthanna but a continued coalition presence could be
“counter‑productive”.
UK support
for the province at this time comprised 17 ArmorGroup police
advisers,
one police
officer and one prison adviser.
1525.
The UK’s
overall support was 95 police advisers in MND(SE) and
Baghdad,
57 trainers
in Jordan, six prison advisers, one justice adviser and three EU
JustLex
courses.
The US contribution was 247 police trainers Iraq‑wide, 66 JIPTC
trainers,
70 prison
advisers, and, justice advisers (no number given).
1388
Report, 27
December 2005, ‘Iraqi Police Service – Transitional Plan
Update’.
1389
eGram
1266/06 Basra to FCO London, 20 January 2006, ‘Iraq: Military
Transition in Maysan
and Muthanna’.
1390
Report
Flanagan, 31 January 2006, ‘An Assessment of the UK’s Contribution
to Security Sector
Reform
(Policing) in Iraq’.
1391
GOV.UK,
1 March
2006, Captain
Richard Holmes and Private Lee Ellis killed in Iraq; BBC
News,
1 March
2006, Troops in
Iraq blast named.
1392
Note MOD
[junior officer], [undated], ‘Meeting with Maysaan Chief of Police
– Thursday
2nd March
2006’.
1393
Minute
Mortimer, March 2006, ‘Briefing for the Visit of the Muthanna and
Maysan Chiefs of Police
to Dr Kim
Howells, 6 March 2006, 17.00’.
405