The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
848.
Mr Chaplin
discussed post-conflict issues with Mr William Burns, State
Department
Assistant
Secretary Near East, on 22 November.409
Mr Burns
suggested that the
US would
want to follow the 6 November Washington talks with a visit to
London in
December
or, if necessary, January. Mr Chaplin said the UK was working on a
paper on
the shape
of a post-conflict administration of Iraq, the issue on which “the
US and UK
still
seemed furthest apart”.
849.
The FCO paper
on post-conflict administration was shared with the US
on
850.
During
October and November 2002, UK oil companies expressed concern
to
the
Government about securing future oil contracts in
Iraq.
851.
Sir David
Manning raised the issue with Dr Rice in early
December.
852.
An oil
industry representative called on Mr Chaplin on 2 October, warning
that
“by
sticking to the rules over Iraq and not going for post-sanctions
contracts”, major UK
oil
companies would lose out.411
He was
concerned that some other countries would
sell their
support for US policy for a guarantee that existing deals with the
Iraqi regime
would be
honoured. Mr Chaplin explained that the FCO was “seized of the
issue” and
“determined
to get a fair slice of the action for UK companies”.
853.
On 25 October,
Mr Brenton reported a conversation with Vice President
Cheney’s
office, in
which he had been told that Mr Cheney was about to discuss Iraqi
oil contracts
with Mr
Yevgeny Primakov, the former Russian Prime Minister. Mr Brenton was
advised
that Mr
Primakov would be told the “bids of those countries which
co-operated with the
US over
Iraq would be looked at more sympathetically than those which did
not”.412
854.
UK companies’
concerns persisted. Representatives of BP, Shell and
British
Gas
discussed the issue with Baroness Symons on 31
October.413
Baroness
Symons
reported to
Mr Straw that she had said:
“… we could
not make any definitive undertakings, given our determination that
any
action in
relation to Iraq is prompted by our concerns over WMD, and not a
desire
for
commercial gains.
“However, I
undertook to draw this issue to your attention as a matter of
urgency.
They were
genuinely convinced that deals were being struck and that
British
interests
are being left to one side.”414
409
Telegram
622 FCO London to Washington, 25 November 2002, ‘Iraq: US Views, 22
November 2002’.
410
Minute Dodd
to Manning, 19 December 2002, ‘Ad Hoc Group on Iraq’.
411
Email
Chaplin to Gray, 2 October 2002, ‘Iraq – Views of UK
Business’.
412
Letter
Brenton to Chaplin, 25 October 2002, ‘Iraq: Oil’.
413
Minute
Segar to PS/Baroness Symons, 31 October 2002, ‘Iraq
Oil’.
414
Minute
Symons to Straw, 1 November 2002, ‘Iraqi Oil and Gas’.
256