ITALY ASKS FOR AFRICAN FOCS AND FURTHER U.S.

S E C R E T ROME 003882

SIPDIS


PM/PPA FOR RACHEL FEATHERSTONE; EUR/PGI FOR TABITHA OMAN;
NSC FOR MARTINA STRONG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2014
TAGS: KPKO MARR MOPS PGOV PREL IT
SUBJECT: ITALY ASKS FOR AFRICAN FOCS AND FURTHER U.S.
INPUT ON GENDARME INITIATIVE

REF: STATE 206032

Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER-COUSELOR THOMAS COUNTRYMAN FORREASON
S 1.4 (B) AND (D).

1.(U) This is an action message. Please see Paragraph 14.

2.(S) Summary. Italy believes that African countries must
comprise at least half of the countries invited to send
trainees next year to the Center of Excellence for Stability
Police Units (COESPU) in Vicenza. Italy recommends that the
Department choose at least two sub-Saharan countries and one
Partnership for Peace (PfP) country from its Tier Two list,
along with India, Morocco, and Jordan from the Tier One list.
The Carabinieri have arranged to move its non-commissioned
officers training center from Vicenza and complete material
preparations by spring 2005. The MOD has approved the COESPU
project but is delaying release of the project proposal
because of financial concerns, including uncertainty about
how much the U.S. will contribute. To push this project
along, Italy suggests that the U.S. send a technical team by
the end of November to assist in completing planning and
budget assessments. Quick U.S.-Italian agreement on trainee
countries and clearer mutual understanding on budget issues
are key steps toward presenting the COESPU project before G-8
partners. End Summary.

3.(U) POLMIL Officer delivered Reftel demarche to MFA G-8
Office Head Giampaolo Cantini on September 26. Carabinieri,
MOD, and MFA officials met to discuss the document and other
COESPU matters on September 28. POLMIL Officer engaged in
further conversations with Cantini on September 29 and
October 4.

Candidate Countries for COESPU,s First Year
--------------

4. (S) Italy does not agree that the first year,s trainee
countries should come solely from Reftel,s Tier One list.
The problem from the Italian perspective is that, from the
African continent, the Tier One list includes only Morocco;
there are no sub-Saharan countries. Cantini did not doubt
the technical accuracy of the State Department,s evaluation
of countries in terms of their experience in peacekeeping
operations and their existing institutional ability to
sustain a gendarme peacekeeping force. But the
under-representation of Africa that would result from
selection based entirely on those criteria would contradict
the goal of the G-8 peacekeeping initiative. Cantini
recalled that the gendarme initiative had been originally
conceived in terms of enhancing African peacekeeping
capability and that the British have already designated
Africa as the focus for their G-8 presidency. Pointing to
current difficulties in finding peacekeepers for Darfur,
Cantini noted that the G-8 aim was not to train Polish or
Dutch gendarmes to go to Africa, but to foster endogenous
African peacekeeping capability as rapidly as possible.
Industrialized countries with gendarme capabilities should be
providing COESPU with teachers, not students. While Italy
does agree that COESPU,s scope should be global rather than
restricted to Africa, under-representing Africa would
undercut the project,s validity in the eyes of G-8 partners
and make it hard to attract funding support.

5.(C) Of the six to eight countries Italy hopes will send
trainees to COESPU,s first year courses, Italy,s strong
view is that a minimum of half of the countries must be from
Africa. Italy also believes that, on the whole, trainees
should come from developing rather than industrialized
countries.

6.(S) Accepting (and appreciating) the technical value of the
U.S.-provided lists, Cantini suggested the following
composition of countries to approach for the first year,s
courses: India (Tier 1),Jordan (Tier 1),Morocco (Tier 1)
plus at least two sub-Saharan countries from the Tier 2 list
plus one PfP country (Cantini suggested Ukraine because of
its proven willingness to participate substantially in PKOs).
Cantini invited the U.S. to use the information it gathered
in generating the two-tier lists for judging which
sub-Saharan countries would be best able to benefit from
COESPU training.


Status of the Project
--------------
7.(U) On October 1, Carabinieri Colonel Maurizio Mezzavilla
replaced Colonel Domenico Libertini as head of the COESPU and
European Gendarmes projects. Both Cantini and Libertini have
expressed satisfaction with the choice of Mezzavilla, who
brings experience as MSU commander in Bosnia.

8.(U) The Carabinieri have set up a task force (nucleo
iniziale di formazione),commanded by a two-star general, to
undertake the physical establishment of the training center.
The training center for non-commissioned officers currently
located at Vicenza will be relocated to Velletri, near Rome,
starting in December 2004. The Carabinieri will complete
alterations and equipment setup at the Vicenza facility in
the first months of 2005.

9.(U) As a means of introducing COESPU to future
participants, the Carabinieri are prepared to conduct a
seminar in December or January. Cantini has suggested
inviting representatives from the following countries and
organizations: G-8 countries, Euro-Gendarme countries, EU,
NATO, OSCE, UN, AU, ECOWAS, and possibly IGAD. The
Carabinieri will schedule the seminar once the project
proposal is disseminated to G-8 partners.

10.(U) Cantini reported that the Carabinieri now believe that
initial hopes to initiate COESPU training courses in early
2005 were over-optimistic. Instead, the Carabinieri
anticipate holding the first course in early summer or, at
the latest, the beginning of September 2005. The important
thing, Cantini said, is to begin on the right foot.

Financial Questions Remain
--------------
11.(C) MOD has approved but not released the full COESPU
project proposal. At this point the MFA has received only a
summary without financial details. Cantini stated that the
delay reflects continuing MOD/Carabinieri concern about
taking on one-time and permanent new costs in a period of
budget cuts. The MFA has been pressing MOD to furnish a
detailed estimate of costs, which the MFA guesses will be
somewhere in the neighborhood of five million Euros annually
(including the costs of bringing and equipping students).
More than once, Cantini said that the MOD and MFA were
looking forward to more clarity about the eventual U.S.
financial contribution. Cantini said that Italy understands
COESPU as a joint initiative and expects its U.S. partner to
contribute "in kind": that is, on a basis commensurate with
the cost Italy will bear.

Request for U.S. Technical Team Visit
--------------
12.(C) Italy wants further interaction with the U.S. in
completing planning. Cantini, speaking for both the
Carabinieri and MFA Political Director Giampaolo Massolo,
suggested that this is the right time to bring a U.S.
technical team to Rome and Vicenza for the purpose of ironing
out details of what it will take to get COESPU up and
running. The team should include military officers
knowledgeable about the constabulary aspects of peacekeeping
missions and, most importantly, with experience in
establishing didactic and training programs. Cantini
believes that a U.S. technical team visit before the end of
November would provide the extra push needed to complete
planning and move to the operational stage.

13.(C) Cantini stressed Italy,s hope that the U.S. team
would come with solid information about what the U.S. will be
prepared to contribute financially.

14.(C) Action Request: Embassy Rome asks PM/PPA to follow up
its successful July visit to Italy by sending a team whose
members would have the military and technical experience to
review and assist in completion of Italian plans. The team
should include at least one member qualified to assist with
financial planning. We hope this visit can happen quickly,
preferably by the end of November. End Action Request.

Next Steps: Details Needed for Sherpas, Meeting


-------------- --
15.(U) The MFA, encouraged by President Bush,s mention of
the U.S.-Italian Global Peace Operations Initiative in his
September 21 UNGA speech, has been spreading the word about
COESPU. Massolo outlined the project at the September 20 G-8
political directors meeting in New York. Mezzavilla will
discuss COESPU in more detail at the G-8 Clearinghouse
meeting on African Peacekeeping in Washington on October 7-8.


16.(C) The next step is the October 15 Sherpas, meeting, at
which the U.S. and Italy hope to lay out the COESPU proposal
to G-8 partners and begin soliciting partner support.
Assuming that the official project proposal is available by
then (and that the U.S. clears on it),Cantini said the key
information that partner countries will look for at the
Sherpas' meeting will be: 1) a list of needs along with cost
estimates; and 2) the list of countries to be invited to the
first year's courses. These items, and particularly the
financial needs assessment, are not yet accomplished.
Cantini speculated that, if Italian Sherpa Giovanni
Castellaneta had to discuss COESPU today, he would be
prepared to offer only a general picture of the project.
Given Italy,s budget concerns, Cantini said, Castellaneta
will not get out ahead of whatever has been firmly agreed on
by Italy and the U.S.

Comment
--------------
17.(C) To reach our goal of presenting a U.S.-Italian project
proposal to G-8 partners on October 15, we need to decide
quickly on a list of trainee countries to approach for the
first year. (Bringing those countries, or alternates, on
board may take somewhat longer.) Italy is firm that COESPU
should maintain a primary, though not exclusive, focus on
Africa. Given the statements issued at Sea Island and the
continuing G-8 emphasis on Africa, it is indeed hard to see
this project attracting much partner support otherwise.

18.(C) Uncertainty about the extent of U.S. commitment to
sharing the financial burden is contributing to the MOD's
slowness in releasing the project proposal. More clarity
from the U.S. side ) or, at a minimum, reassurance that
Italy will not find itself left alone to make up the
difference between major new costs and eventual G-8 partner
contributions ) might help shake the project proposal loose.
Announcing the visit of a State Department technical team to
help wrap up planning should also push things along. End
Comment.


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2004ROME03882 - Classification: SECRET