Ministry of Foreign Affairs
As of mid-May 2003, the ministry of Foreign Affairs was in the process of recalling all ambassadors from overseas embassies. It expected everyone to be back by the first week of June.
The Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, now the Office of the Coalition Provisional Authority, was to work with the ministry on the missions of each embassy and where they stood in regards to its mission. Policies to build a new Iraqi relationship with the U.S. and its allies would then be created and host nations informed on how to treat the new Iraq embassy. Initial plans called for embassies in Jordan, Syria and Iran to be opened first. This would be followed by the establishment of procedures to give more rights to female citizens and learn to develop a democracy.
The ministry building was damaged by fire during the war and damage has not been assessed as of mid-May 2003. An adjacent building was to be used in the meantime although significantly smaller than the old ministry building. ORHA believed the ministry would be up and running by the end of June 2003. The Steering Committee will use the Protocol building as a ministry office until damage to the original building has been repaired. The temporary office building, the Protocol building, was tp be in use by 23 May 2003 and the ministry was to start calling employees back shortly thereafter.
An interim minister, Mohammed Amin-Ahmaed, was appointed to what subsequently became known as the Chairman of the Steering Committee. Mohammed H. Malik is the Diplomat of Public Affairs for the ministry and had been in that position for five years. A woman, Akila al-Hashem, was appointed to the Steering Committee. Prior to the appointment, she was the Deputy Director of International Organizations. Several sub-committees have been formed within the Steering Committee; Salaries and Incentives, Communication, Buildings, Finance and Foreign Missions.
The priority for the ORHA was to get ministry fully functional with minimal help. It did not want the Chairman of the Steering Committee to constantly rely on ORHA to get the ministry functioning. The ministry has about 1,000 employees, the bulk of which were not been told to report for work, as of mid-May 2003. Communication between the ministry and overseas ambassadors was better than originally anticipated following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.
