Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05THEHAGUE2756
2005-10-12 14:39:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy The Hague
Cable title:  

SCENESETTER FOR DASD THERSA WHELAN'S VISIT TO THE

Tags:  EAID PREL KHIV NL XA 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 THE HAGUE 002756 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR DASD WHELAN
STATE FOR THE DEPUTY SECRETARY AND S/CRS
STATE ALSO FOR EUR/UBI/REITER
USEU FOR LERNER AND BRENNER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PREL KHIV NL XA
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR DASD THERSA WHELAN'S VISIT TO THE
HAGUE

REF: THE HAGUE 2446

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 THE HAGUE 002756

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR DASD WHELAN
STATE FOR THE DEPUTY SECRETARY AND S/CRS
STATE ALSO FOR EUR/UBI/REITER
USEU FOR LERNER AND BRENNER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PREL KHIV NL XA
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR DASD THERSA WHELAN'S VISIT TO THE
HAGUE

REF: THE HAGUE 2446


1. Your visit to The Hague comes at a time when the GONL is
broadening its already substantial aid to Africa and is
boosting its efforts in security assistance and reform.
The Ministries of Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Development
are pursuing joint SSR and DDR initiatives in Africa and have
created a Security Task Force to address failed and failing
states. Your interlocutors will be eager to discuss these
recent initiatives. Your visit also comes on the heels of PM
Balkenende's and Development Minister Van Ardenne's joint
visit to Mali and Nigeria, where they developed a curriculum
for training of West African officers in peacekeeping and
negotiated installing an officer to the War College at Abuja.
FM Bot visited South Africa October 10 and 11, where he
signed an agreement allowing the South Africans to make more
use of Dutch military training capabilities and exercise
opportunities. The Dutch see Rwanda and South Africa as key
elements in regional solutions to African security issues.
Other countries prominent on the GONL's radar screen are
Sudan and Burundi; the Dutch are particularly interested in
doing more to protect women in conflict situations, most
urgently in Darfur. Your visit also follows Defense Minister
Kamp's synopsis of Dutch military involvement in Africa in a
letter he presented to Parliament on October 4.

DUTCH INITIATIVES IN AFRICA: TOPICAL FOCUS
--------------


2. The Dutch rank as the world's sixth most generous aid
donor; last year they gave about 0.8 percent of GDP ($4.2
billion),approximately half to Africa. Dutch aid to Africa
has historically focused on health and environmental
programs, including AIDS and water projects where the U.S.
and the Netherlands cooperate closely. In recent years, the
Dutch have broadened their focus to include security sector
reform (SSR) and disarmament, demobilization and
reintegration (DDR),notably in Sudan and the DRC. In 2003,
Development Minister Van Ardenne launched a Stability Fund
with a budget of $132 million to fund SSR and DDR activities
in the African Great Lakes and Horn of Africa, as well as the

Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. The Fund's budget could grow
next year, if Parliament responds favorably to a planned
review.


3. The Dutch are soliciting participation in SSR activities
from their multilateral partners; Van Ardenne recently
lobbied the OECD Development Assistance Committee to broaden
definitions of development assistance with the aim of
including more SSR related programs. The Dutch are no less
enthusiastic about bilateral cooperation in SSR/DDR. In his
address to Parliament, Kamp promoted the MOD's role in SSR
and DDR initiatives and underscored his enthusiasm for
initiatives involving international partners. Kamp explained
that the MOD is creating a pool of 60 military experts to
respond on short notice to pressing areas of SSR and to be
deployed on foreign missions. To facilitate these
deployments, the MOD is working with the MFA to create a
training program.


4. Last January, Kamp and van Ardenne announced the formation
of a joint Security Task Force (similar to State's Office of
the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization),to
identify and prepare for failing and failed states. In his
letter to parliament, Kamp highlighted the Task Force's role
of facilitating MOD participation in reconstruction efforts,
particularly crisis management, international crime,
terrorism, and refugee issues. As a next step, the GONL
plans to launch a public diplomacy effort to promote its
security for development policy, especially to skeptics
within the Netherlands' influential NGO community.

DUTCH MILITARY INITIATIVES IN AFRICA: REGIONAL FOCUS
-------------- --------------

Sudan
--------------


5. The Netherlands was one of the earliest and most generous
humanitarian aid donors to Darfur. In 2004 the Dutch gave
$61 million to aid refugees in Sudan and Chad. The GONL
pledged approximately $62 million for Darfur-related
humanitarian assistance in 2005 and promised more, if needed.
At the April donor conference in Oslo, the GONL pledged $217
million over the next three years to fund Sudanese
reconstruction and support for the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement (CPA). Of this amount, $180 million will go to the
UN Multi-Donor Trust Fund. The remaining $37 million is
earmarked for SSR/DDR in Southern Sudan.


6. The Netherlands supports the African Union Mission in
Sudan (AMIS) both financially (over 14 million euros from the
Stability Fund) and with experts furnished via the EU. The
MOD expects to post a military officer to AMIS HQ soon. The
Dutch are also valuable partners in the International
Military Advisory Team (IMAT) framework for Sudan. The MOD
provides two officials to the IMAT and financial support
through the Stability Fund. The Dutch also provide two
officers to the CENTCOM Task Force for the Horn of Africa,
based in Djibouti.


7. The Dutch government is considering the circumstances
under which the Netherlands would contribute observers to the
United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). A joint MFA-MOD
fact-finding mission visited Sudan August 27-September 6.
The results of that mission will inform the Dutch decision
whether a contribution of military observers is viable.


8. The Dutch are also strongly interested in boosting
international efforts to combat sexual violence against women
in conflict situations, a particular interest of Development
Minister van Ardenne. The Dutch Embassy in Khartoum has
'gender security' program funds that they may contribute to
efforts to protect women in Darfur.

DRC
---


9. The Dutch have devoted substantial expertise to
peacekeeping and SSR activities in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC). A UN-detached Dutch General is deputy force
commander of the United Nations Mission on the DRC (MONUC)
and division commander of the eastern MONUC division. In
addition, a Dutch General was recently posted to Kinshasa to
supervise a 5 million euro grant to implement SSR activities
in the DRC and to act as a liaison to the EU-SSR "EUSEC"
mission. The Netherlands has also provided a military police
officer to the European "EUPOL" mission that trains the
Congolese police. In his letter to Parliament, Kamp asserted
that this number will increase to two officers next year. The
GONL is debating whether to expand its support of MONUC
activities and/or SSR in Eastern Congo in particular. Various
deployment options and modalities are being considered.

Burundi
--------------


10. The Netherlands contributed one of the three western
officers to the UN "ONUB" mission in Burundi. Kamp's letter
to Parliament highlighted the fact that, earlier this year, a
Dutch colonel and an MFA official participated for three
months in a bilateral demobilization project in Burundi
financed from the Stability Fund. As a gesture of
appreciation for the progress of the peace process in Burundi
and the orderly outcome of the first elections, Development
Minister Van Ardenne offered the new Burundi government to
help set up a school for peace operations. Van Ardenne's
offer came on condition that a comprehensive peace accord is
first signed between the Burundi government and the FNL, and
the GOB commit to maintain such a school in the long term.
The MOD plans to contribute to this project.

AFRICAN MILITARY PARTNERS
--------------


10. Kamp's letter underscored the MOD's interest in engaging
African countries, particularly Rwanda and South Africa, as
military partners. The MOD donated 175,000 euros of
transport assistance, medical supplies, and training to
Rwandan AMIS troops in Darfur. The Dutch have also offered
air transport to 750 South African troops scheduled to take
part in an AMIS deployment. Moreover, the MOD is engaging
both of these countries in crisis management operations. An
agreement on cooperation with South Africa was finalized
during FM Bot's visit to South Africa October 10-11. The
agreement underscores Dutch interest in promoting "African
ownership" of peacekeeping responsibilities and emphasizes
South Africa's role as "an exporter of stability" in Africa.
The Dutch are particularly interested in engaging the South
Africans on SSR efforts in the DRC. Kamp recently signed an
MOU with his counterpart in Kigali on bilateral military
cooperation that focuses on assisting Rwandan armed forces to
carry out crisis management operations in Africa.

DUTCH MILITARY EXERCISES IN AFRICA
--------------


11. The Dutch plan to generally expand their military
exercise activities in Africa in order to remain prepared for
deployment. In September, 500 Dutch Air Mobile Brigade
Troops participated in the international "Bright Star 2005"
exercise in Egypt. This fall, 225 troops will participate in
the international "Green Osprey 05" exercise in Senegal.

AREAS FOR FUTURE COOPERATION
--------------


12. Dutch military police have conducted Iraqi police
training. While there are no plans to continue that program,
the force could be equally adept at training African
peacekeepers and airport and sea-port police in post-crisis
countries.


13. Kamp's demonstrated enthusiasm for international
cooperation in the field of DDR/SSR underscores the potential
for joint U.S.- Dutch initiatives. Specifically, the Dutch
could potentially complement our efforts to transform the
Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army (SPLA) into a conventional
force with some of the elements that sanctions prohibit us
from providing, namely, trainers and troop support items.
There may also be potential for Dutch participation with the
ACOTA program and with HIV/AIDS initiatives in the DRC.
Dutch interest in women's issues makes them good potential
counterparts for joint initiatives countering sexual violence
in Africa, particularly in Sudan.
BLAKEMAN