9.5 |
June 2006 to 27 June 2007
“… Iraq has
to be bigger than just Iraq. It has to be part of a more profound
and
wider
picture. People have to see it as a frontier in a battle across the
region and the
world. That
is a battle, as you always rightly say, between freedom and
extremism,
democracy
and terror. But we have to get back onto the front foot
politically. I am
absolutely
confident it can be done. Even after I go, which will be soon now,
I will
help in any
way I can.”
795.
On 3 May,
members of the international community gathered in Sharm
el‑Sheikh,
Egypt to
launch the International Compact with Iraq.432
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.”
796.
Mr Asquith
judged that the Iraqi Government would be seeking
“headline‑catching
support and
commitment, notably in terms of debt relief from the Saudis and
others” and
that a poor
response “could undermine the willingness of line Ministries in
Iraq to take
the Compact
seriously and therefore to undertake the reforms that it
entails”.433
797.
Mr Asquith
proposed that Mrs Beckett, who led the UK delegation,
should
“encourage
Maliki to develop a mechanism for engaging directly with his
Arab
neighbours
(eg a personal envoy) and to establish the working groups agreed at
the
meeting in
Baghdad on 10 March”.
798.
The launch was
followed by a Neighbours Conference on 4 May.
799.
Sir David
Manning reported US reactions to the meetings on 4 May. His
contacts in
the State
Department and National Security Council considered that “the fact
that there
had been no
big surprises was itself considered a success”.434
Now that
the Compact
had been
formally launched:
“… the
focus was now on substance: exploiting the Compact’s reform
road‑map and
shifting
the dynamic between Iraq and its neighbours. It was not clear the
Sharm
meetings
had marked any real progress on the latter …”
800.
Mr Blair
and President Bush spoke by video conference on 4
May.435
Mr Blair
noted that
although there were some positive signs emerging from the Baghdad
Security
432
Press
Release United Nations, 27 April 2007, ‘Fact Sheet on the
International Compact with Iraq’.
433
eGram 18202
Baghdad to FCO London, 1 May 2005, ‘Iraq: Scenesetter for the Sharm
Meetings,
3‑4
May’.
434
eGram
19048/07 Washington to FCO London, 4 May 2007, ‘Iraq/Sharm
Meetings: US Reactions’.
435
Letter
Banner to Hayes, 4 May 2007, ‘Prime Minister’s VTC with President
Bush, 4 May:
Middle East
issues’.
149