The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
449.
Looking ahead,
Gen Walker told Dr Reid that a new campaign plan had
been
drafted by
Gen Casey and Ambassador Khalilzad, which sought to:
•
develop
processes and machinery to remove corrupt officials;
•
seize the
resources of terrorists and foreign fighters;
•
address
sectarian, corrupt or subversive activities by the
ISF;
•
create an
electricity plan for the next year;
•
ensure that
food reached the most needy and test the elimination of
subsidies
for food
and fuel; and
•
disrupt the
flow of illegal resources into Iraq, particularly from Iran and
Syria.
450.
Gen Walker
advised Dr Reid that:
“The jury
is out on the pilot PRTs – both amongst the military and the
diplomats.
Whatever
the outcome, I recommend an early bid to run them in the four
MND(SE)
provinces
to save us heartache later. If we don’t, they have the potential to
fix us
through
force protection requirements at places and for periods not of our
choosing.”
451.
On transition,
Gen Walker wrote:
“Nothing I
heard indicated that our transition aspirations are flights of
fancy.
Gen Babakir
may have been optimistic in his assessment of the speed with
which
the IA
would be in a position to assume the security role (by late 06) but
I suspect
much will
hinge on the view of the new government.”
On 26
November, at 1430 local time, Mr Norman Kember and three
others – Mr Harmeet
Singh
Sooden and Mr James Loney, both Canadian, and US citizen
Mr Tom Fox –
were kidnapped
in Baghdad.210
The van in
which they were travelling was hijacked
in the
northwest part of the city after a leaving a meeting with members
of the
Muslim Ulema
Council.
Two of the
four worked for an NGO called Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), and
the
other two,
including Mr Kember, were in Iraq as guests of
CPT.
The UK
Government’s emergency response mechanism – COBR – was activated
in
relation to
Mr Kember’s kidnap.
The body of
Mr Fox was found in the Mansour district of Baghdad on 9 March
2006.211
Two weeks
later Mr Kember, Mr Sooden and Mr Loney were rescued
from captivity in a
house in
western Baghdad in an operation involving UK, US and Canadian
forces.
210
Briefing
[unattributed], 28 November 2005, ‘Kidnapping of Norman Kember –
Baghdad, Iraq – Saturday
26 November
2005’.
211
BBC
News, 23 March
2006, British
Iraq hostage Kember freed.
564