BAHRAIN SETS TIMETABLE FOR DEPLOYMENT TO

S E C R E T MANAMA 001858 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2014 TAGS: BA MARR MOPS PREL SUBJECT: BAHRAIN SETS TIMETABLE FOR DEPLOYMENT TO AFGHANISTAN Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe. Reasons 1.5 (B) and (D). ¶1. (S) SUMMARY: Minister of Defense al-Khalifa outlined for the Ambassador the timeline for the proposed deployment of Special Forces troops to Afghanistan. Training for the deployment will begin in the UAE in January 2005. Both Bahrain and UAE want the deployment to be low profile. After meeting with the Iraqi President, Bahrain will now focus on training of Iraqi civil defense personnel and has withdrawn its offer to send its ships to patrol Iraqi coastal waters. END SUMMARY ¶2. (S) In an 8 December meeting with Ambassador Monroe, the Minister of Defense, General Shaikh Khalifa al-Khalifa, discussed the timeline for Bahrain's planned deployment of a Special Operations Company to Afghanistan in cooperation with the UAE contingent there. Before going into details, the Minister emphasized both Bahrain and UAE want to keep this deployment low profile and would not go public. The Bahrain Defense Force will send four officers and 28-30 enlisted personnel from their Special Forces to UAE on 18 January 2005 for a four-month training period with UAE forces. At the conclusion of the training, the troops will deploy with their UAE counterparts to Afghanistan for a six-month rotation for participation in Operation Enduring Freedom. ¶3. (C) After discussion on the deployment, the Ambassador strongly urged the Minister to send a liaison officer to CENTCOM MacDill when the Bahraini troops deploy. He also reemphasized that Bahrain has a standing invitation from CENTCOM to send a liaison officer regardless of any deployed Bahraini personnel. The Minister said he will strongly consider sending a liaison officer but did not commit. ¶4. (S) The Minister said the offer for a Bahraini ship to assist with protection of Iraqi coastal waters had been pulled after discussions with Iraqi President, Ghazi al-Yawar. During President Yawar,s visit to Bahrain last month, Yawar decided to focus on civil defense training at this time. To this end, Bahrain is now engaged with the training of 4000 Iraqi firefighters over the next few years. (Comment: The training of the Iraqi firefighters will be hosted by Bahrain, conducted by US contractors, and funded by the IIG.) ¶5. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. MONROE MONROE