9.3  |  July 2004 to May 2005

360.  Lt Gen Kiszely reported that 446 out of 542 voter registration centres had opened

and that 30 January 2005 had been formally announced as election day.

361.  Lt Gen Kiszely described Fallujah as a “ghost town” and the scale of damage

as “breathtaking”. He reported that US planning for reconstruction was well advanced

and that he had been appointed by Gen Casey as the MNF-I co-ordinator for

humanitarian assistance and reconstruction with special responsibility for liaison

with the IIG. The immediate priorities were a needs assessment and co-ordination

of reconstruction efforts.

362.  From 22 November, the Secretary to this Inquiry, Ms Margaret Aldred, held the

post of Deputy Head of the Overseas and Defence Secretariat within the Cabinet Office,

succeeding Mr Desmond Bowen. Ms Aldred routinely chaired the Iraq Senior Officials

Group and deputised for Sir Nigel Sheinwald as Chair of the Iraq Strategy Group or at

meetings of the JIC.

363.  An international conference on Iraq, bringing together Iraq’s neighbours,189 the

G8,190 China and a number of other states and international organisations,191 was held

in Sharm el Sheikh on 23 November.

364.  Briefing prepared for Mr Straw by the IPU set out UK objectives for the conference.

They were to:

“• maintain momentum towards elections in January;

• lock the neighbours [of Iraq] into support for the political process; and

• broaden international consensus by focusing the international community on

a forward looking agenda for 2005.” 192

365.  The conference’s final communiqué193 reflected those objectives and stated that

a follow-up meeting would take place in February 2005.194

366.  In a letter to Mr Blair’s Private Secretary, Mr Straw’s Private Secretary

described the outcome as “a step forward”.195 Together with the Paris Club deal to write

off 80 percent of Iraq’s debt (see Section 10.3), it had “strengthened the impression of

the international community putting differences behind it and focusing on the future”.

It would be important to build on that with a “forward looking agenda for 2005”.

189  Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey.

190  Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK and the US.

191  Egypt, Bahrain, Algeria, Tunisia, Malaysia, Netherlands, League of Arab States, Organisation of the

Islamic Conference, EU and the UN.

192  Minute Fitzgerald to Crompton, 18 November 2004, ‘Iraq: Briefing for Bilaterals at Sharm el Sheikh

Conference, 22/23 November’, attaching briefing IPU ‘Iraq: Sharm el Sheikh International Conference

22/23 November’.

193  A communiqué is a summary of a conference’s conclusions.

194  Final Communiqué of International Ministerial Meeting of the Neighbouring Countries of Iraq, the G8

and China, Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt 23rd November 2004.

195  Letter Owen to Quarrey, 26 November 2004, ‘Iraq: The Path to Elections on 30 January’.

453