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training of Iraqi civil defense personnel and has withdrawn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