CANADA: TIMETABLE FOR WITHDRAWAL OF US MILITARY

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 000290 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2015 TAGS: EAID PREL CA SUBJECT: CANADA: TIMETABLE FOR WITHDRAWAL OF US MILITARY ASSETS FROM TSUNAMI-AFFECTED REGION REF: (A) SECSTATE 15234 (B) OTTAWA 131 Classified By: POLITICAL M/C BRIAN FLORA. REASON 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) DND Office of Peacekeeping Director, Colonel Denis Thompson, and desk officer Joey Cloutier told us on January 27 that they foresaw "no problems" with the projected departure of U.S. military assets from the tsunami-affected region. They noted that Canadian relief efforts had been focused in Sri Lanka; both were aware that CSG Sri Lanka was preparing to depart if it hadn't already done so. Cloutier said that the Canadian LNO deployed earlier this month (ref B) was already back in country. ¶2. (C) Though we were unable to meet with more senior staff in FAC's Office of Peacekeeping and Regional Security, desk officer Kelty Patterson confirmed DND officials' views that the departure of U.S. military assets from Sri Lanka in particular would not affect Canadian relief efforts. Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa DICKSON