Wikileaks - DCCXXIX

105742 4/25/2007 15:16 07USNATO270 Mission USNATO CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN VZCZCXRO6634 OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHLA RUEHMRE RUEHROV RUEHSR DE RUEHNO #0270/01 1151516 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 251516Z APR 07 FM USMISSION USNATO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0775 RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUCNOSC/ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY COOPERATION IN EUROPE PRIORITY RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS PRIORITY 0118 RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0265 RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 0540 RUEHBM/AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST PRIORITY 2372 RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0572 RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM PRIORITY 0143 RUEHKV/AMEMBASSY KYIV PRIORITY 0008 RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI PRIORITY 0051 RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0177 RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 0603 RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 0540 RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0449 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0277 RUEHPG/AMEMBASSY PRAGUE PRIORITY 3940 RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 0516 RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE PRIORITY 0882 RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0383 C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 USNATO 000270

SIPDIS

NOFORN SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2017 TAGS: NATO, PREL, PTER, AF SUBJECT: NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT APRIL 25, 2007

Classified By: DCM Richard G. Olson for reasons 1.4 (B) and (d)

1. (C) SUMMARY:

-- Afghanistan: NAC discussed &whither a NATO common hostage policy?8 and alleged Afghan mistreatment of detainees. Chairman of the Military Committee (CMC) updated the NAC on NATO training support to the ANA and his recent trip to Pakistan. D/SYG urged the NAC to find a way ahead on draft NATO-Pakistan transit agreement prior to the SYG,s May trip to Islamabad. Counternarcotics messaging in southern Afghanistan debated.

-- Kosovo: UNSC representatives met with SYG in Brussels; KFOR prepared to support UNSC visit.

-- Darfur: D/SYG noted Sudanese acceptance of AU/UN &Heavy Support Package.8

-- Iraq: Spring Periodic Mission Review passes silence. SHAPE report on gendarmerie training due May 15.

END SUMMARY.

2. (C) Afghanistan: Ambassador Nuland told the NAC that Secretary Rice would likely raise NATO,s efforts to find a

SIPDIS common hostage policy during the Oslo ministerial April 26, based on the non-paper that the Ambassador circulated to Allies last week. France laid down a strong marker and advocated killing further discussion at NATO, noting it was &( not persuaded it added value on this complex issue.8 Further, &given the circumstances8 at present, France urged, supported by Spain, that the issue not be mentioned at all at Oslo. Italy, the UK, Canada, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Poland all voiced strong support for a continuing discussion at NATO. D/SYG Minuto-Rizzo, chairing, said the SYG would discuss it at a PermReps coffee on May 3. Ambassador Nuland told the French Ambassador that the Secretary would not ask for action at Oslo and would be

SIPDIS appropriately discreet publicly, but the issue needed to be discussed among Ministers French delegation told us that with deadline fr execution of hostages in Afghanistan due to exire during Oslo, any public action by NATO might cuse French public opinion to blame the deaths on ATO.

3. (C) Canadian Ambassador Juneau stated hat FM MacKay would raise in Oslo recent press accounts of mistreatment of Afghan detainees by the Afghan government, and that Canada has called on the GOA to investigate allegations. Canada believes that NATO Ambassadors in Kabul should discuss the issue; Italy, Norway, and the Netherlands supported. The D/SYG informed that SCR Everts had met with the Afghan Deputy Justice Minister in Kabul, who pledged an investigation. Ambassador Nuland urged that the Canadians endeavor to handle the issue as sensitively as possible, and asked how the U.S. and ISAF could help address concerns in Kabul. The Canadian Ambassador noted the Canadian press would certainly ask FM MacKay about it following discussions in Oslo, so he had to raise the issue, but would do so appropriately.

4. (C) CMC Henault told Council that military advice on potential long-term involvement of NATO in training the ANA would be passed to the Military Committee for initial consideration by the end of the month. He expressed disappointment that NATO Allies had not yet offered to fill short-term training objectives that the NAC agreed in February 2007, such as OMLTs, filling billets in CSTC-A, and counter-IED capabilities. CMC briefed on his trip to Pakistan, which followed immediately on the heels of his trip to Afghanistan with the NAC April 16-18. In Islamabad, he met with the Pakistani Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,

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General Ul Haq, who welcomed the &maturation8 of the NATO-Pakistan relationship. In meetings, the Pakistani side bemoaned a perceived lack of understanding by the West of Pakistan,s security challenges, and the efforts it is making on the border with Afghanistan. Pakistan is interested in developing educational opportunities with NATO, such as the NATO Defense College, and military leaders view negotiations with NATO for a transit agreement and ISAF liaison arrangements in Islamabad to be separate issues. Pakistan intends to open a liaison office with NATO, either at SHAPE or NATO HQ, to be determined. CMC also met with 12 NATO Ambassadors while in Islamabad.

5. (C) D/SYG Minuto-Rizzo reminded the NAC that SYG de Hoop Scheffer would travel to Islamabad May 7-8, and asked that nations be as flexible as possible as the Political Committee debates NATO,s response to the terms of a draft transit agreement that NATO recently received from Pakistan. The D/SYG hinted that the establishment of a liaison office in Islamabad, plus a transit agreement would be strong deliverables from the first-ever trip by a NATO SYG to Pakistan. The UK pushed back, noting it would support liaison arrangements (the Pakistanis appear to agree with granting full diplomatic privileges and immunities to NATO liaison staff), but that serious national equities are at stake in the draft transit agreement, such as the Pakistani position on jurisdiction, and notification times demanded by ISAF prior to shipment.

6. (C) Finally, Ambassador Nuland noted a disturbing BBC piece that reported NATO forces in RC-South had placed radio spots stating that neither NATO nor the ANA would engage in eradication. She stated that it was our job to support the Afghan government on counternarcotics, and NATO should not send messages that undermine the GoA. The UK Ambassador acknowledged that &something went wrong8 and that the UK was looking into it, but noted that one could not ignore the security implications of eradication. The Netherlands and Italy asked to see the exact wording of the radio spots.

7. (C) Kosovo: The D/SYG updated the Council on last week,s meeting of the Contact Group in Moscow and the U.N. Security Council,s upcoming trip to Serbia and Kosovo. He said that the representatives from the UNSC would meet April 25 with the NATO SYG and with European Union officials. CMC updated the NAC on KFOR,s enhanced security operations to prevent disruption of the UNSC visit and to deter violence. KFOR will support UNMIK and ensure that Serbs doQot cross Kosovo,s administrative boundary from Serbia during the UNSC visit to Pristina. CMC noted that the German operational reserve battalion will conclude its current operations in Kosovo on April 30 and return to Germany the following week. He added that the Italians will deploy their operational reserve battalion to Kosovo in June, following a command and staff exercise conducted by the reserve components in the region in May.

8. (SBU) Darfur: The D/SYG said the Sudanese government has accepted the &Heavy Support Package,8 which should increase the effectiveness of AMIS. He encouraged forward progress on the AU/UN &hybrid8 force. The D/SYG noted AMIS,s mandate is up for renewal in June; should this be extended, the AU may request additional support from NATO. CMC said the Darfur Integrated Task force had sent a note verbale requesting flight clearance to support the rotation of Rwandan troops, which is scheduled to begin May 3. The German PermRep reported that EU Foreign Ministers at their April 23 meeting (GAERC) had discussed the situation in Sudan, agreeing that the AU/UN &hybrid8 force is urgently needed and that the EU would consider steps against Sudan if this mission is impeded.

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9. (SBU) Iraq: D/SYG reported that the NTM-I Spring 2007 PMR had passed silence and would come to the NAC for approval following consultations with Ukraine. He also reported that SHAPE is assessing the personnel needs at NTM-I and that future work on preparing the gendarmerie training mission is continuing. The gendarmerie training report should come up from SHAPE, as expected, by 15 May.

NULAND