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6.4  |  Planning and preparation for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, mid-2001 to January 2003
972.  On 30 December, Sir Michael Jay asked Mr Gray a number of questions about
post-conflict issues, including how far FCO papers on post-conflict issues had been
shared with the US and major EU partners.464
973.  Dr Amanda Tanfield, Head of Iraq Section in MED, reported:
“Almost all the UK papers have been shared with the US. We have only withheld
from them papers which have been overtaken by others that we have passed to
them.
“We have been more selective with EU partners. Foreign ministry officials in France
and Germany received the early planners [DSI] papers on ‘Scenarios for the Future
of Iraq after Saddam’ and ‘Consequences of Conflict for the Region’. We have given
the French planners … the paper on ‘Islamism in Iraq’.
“The difficulty with sharing a lot of thinking on day after with EU partners is that
day after assumes regime change, which is difficult territory for many of them,
particularly Germany. And some of the more recent papers have been drafted in the
context of the ongoing UK-US official level day after talks, with the US readership
very much in mind.”465
974.  In January 2003, Mr Chilcott commented that the UK had received little in return
from the US (see Section 6.5).
975.  Other issues raised by Sir Michael Jay on 30 December included:
whether DFID’s concerns about involvement in Iraq policy had been resolved;
and
whether the FCO had financial and other contingency plans if more close
protection teams were needed for Embassy staff.466
976.  Dr Tanfield confirmed that DFID was now “fully in the loop” and was represented at
Mr Ricketts’ daily Iraq meeting; and that contingency plans were in place for deploying
close protection teams to Baghdad and five other Embassies in the region.467
Iraqi opposition conference, London
977.  No senior UK official attended the conference of Iraqi opposition groups held
in London from 14 to 17 December.
978.  The conference cast further doubt on the credibility of many of those groups.
464  Minute Jay to Gray, 30 December 2002, ‘Iraq: The Day After Issues’.
465  Minute Tanfield to PUS [FCO], 9 January 2003, ‘Iraq: The Day After Issues’.
466  Minute Jay to Gray, 30 December 2002, ‘Iraq: The Day After Issues’.
467  Minute Tanfield to PUS [FCO], 9 January 2003, ‘Iraq: The Day After Issues’.
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