The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
742.
Mr Benn
was also advised that the final component of DFID’s IISP, the
Basra
water towers,
should be completed in October; that would conclude DFID’s
direct
infrastructure
work.
743.
Maysan
transferred to PIC on 18 April. Maysan was the third province
within
MND(SE) to
transfer, Muthanna and Dhi Qar having done so in July and
September
2006
respectively. This left Basra as the only province for which the UK
retained
security responsibility.
744.
Section 9.5
describes the UK’s focus in early 2007 on encouraging the
Iraqi
Government
to do more to promote reconciliation in Iraq, against a background
of
continuing
sectarian violence. The UK saw a Hydrocarbons Law as one element of
an
effective
reconciliation process.
745.
Mr Richard
Jones, Dr Marsden’s successor as the British Consul General in
Basra,
reported on
19 April that “out of the blue”, a demonstration against Governor
Waili
“throws
open the political future of Basra”.422
Mr Jones
assessed that the demonstration
had been
motivated in large part by “a straight power struggle” in Basra
drawing on
concerns
over corruption, and in part by national politics.
746.
Mr Robert
Tinline, Acting Consul General in Basra, reported on 26 April that
the
ongoing
power struggle in Basra, centred on Governor Waili, was diverting
energy
from other
activity.423
Several key
meetings on development had been postponed. If the
uncertainty
dragged on, the UK would begin to lose momentum on key strands of
work.
747.
Mr Browne
briefed Cabinet on 3 May that the political vacuum in Basra
threatened
to
undermine UK efforts and the gains made by Op
SINBAD.424
Governor
Waili was
assailed on
all sides and was ineffective. Militias were vying for political
power.
748.
On the same
day, members of the international community gathered in
Sharm
el‑Sheikh,
Egypt, to launch the International Compact with
Iraq.425
It was
formally
launched by
Prime Minister Maliki and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The
UN
described
the Compact as:
“… a
five-year national plan that includes benchmarks and mutual
commitments
from both
Iraq and the international community, all with the aim of helping
Iraq on the
path
towards peace, sound governance and economic
reconstruction.”
749.
At the launch,
Mrs Beckett announced that the UK would spend at least
an
additional
£100m on rebuilding Iraq.426
422
Letter
Jones to Aldred, 19 April 2007, ‘Basra: Weekly
Report’.
423
Letter
Tinline to Aldred, 26 April 2007, ‘Basra: Weekly
Report’.
424
Cabinet
Conclusions, 3 May 2007.
425
United
Nations, 27 April 2007, Fact Sheet
on the International Compact with Iraq.
426
BBC
News, 3 May
2007, UK pledges
extra £100m for Iraq.
316