GENERAL JONES MEETING WITH TUNISIAN DEPUTY FM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TUNIS 001204

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG (LAWRENCE)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/03/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS TS EU
SUBJECT: GENERAL JONES MEETING WITH TUNISIAN DEPUTY FM
CHTIOUI

Classified By: CDA David Ballard for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

Meeting Participants:

U.S.:

General Jones
Charge Ballard
General Gration, EUCOM
Ambassador Staples, POLAD
CSM McMichael
Pol/Econ Counselor (notetaker)

Tunisia:

Secretary of State for American and Asian Affairs Chtioui

SIPDIS
Ambassador Atallah, America and Asia Division
Mr. Faycal Gouia, Americas Division
Mr. Abdulaziz Ghodbene, Americas Division
Mr. Yassine Oued, Americas Division


1. (C) SUMMARY: In a meeting with MFA Deputy Foreign
Minister for American and Asian Affairs Chtioui June 3,
General Jones urged continued Tunisian cooperation with EUCOM
and NATO as both entities expanded their scope to include
Africa. Chtioui said Tunisia was ready to work together in a
number of ways, but urged increased military assistance to
update Tunisia's aging/non-operational equipment. General
Jones said he would do everything he could to understand
Tunisia's needs and address them. He offered an overview of
NATO's efforts to become a more flexible, proactive, global
organization with a role in Africa--a role opposed by some in
Europe. He encouraged Tunisia's continued involvement in the
Mediterranean Dialogue and Operation Active Endeavor.
Chtioui told General Jones that Tunisia supported a
cooperative network--civil and military--to address
immigration and counter-terrorism concerns; Tunisia
coordinated with other "5 plus 5" countries on tactics. In
response to a request from Chtioui and Atallah, General Jones
summarized the status of the new TSCTI and other possible
changes to EUCOM's basing structure during transformation.
Chtioui urged the U.S. to involve Libya in regional efforts
as soon as possible, so it could normalize relations across
the board. END SUMMARY.



2. (C) Supreme Allied Commander, Europe and Commander, U.S.
European Command, General Jones met with Deputy Foreign
Minister for American and Asian Affairs Chtioui June 3 to
urge continued Tunisian cooperation with EUCOM and NATO as
both entities expanded their scope to include Africa.
Chtioui said Tunisia was ready; it had always taken regional
threats seriously and was intent on keeping Tunisia's borders
secure. But she urged U.S. help in renewing Tunisia's aging
aircraft and equipment. She said, for example, that Italy
had provided them with assistance to help stem illegal
immigration from Africa, and as a result Tunisia had stopped
"thousands" of illegal migrants. General Jones said he was
aware of some of Tunisia's equipment problems and would do
everything he could to understand the needs and address them.

NATO and EUCOM Shifts to the South
--------------

3. (C) General Jones said that since the end of the Cold War,
NATO's orientation and mission since the end of the Cold War
had changed; there was a re-focus southward in the
Mediterranean and Africa. The Alliance was moving from a
static, defensive, reactive body to one that was extended,
flexible, more global. The shift was not easy, as there was
a view in Europe that NATO has no role in Africa.
Nonetheless, they had re-vitalized the mil-mil context of the
Mediterranean Dialogue and looked forward to Tunisia's
continued involvement in that process. The centerpiece of
the effort would be Operation Active Endeavor, aimed at
helping participating countries and ensuring the security and
stability of the Mediterranean--extending perhaps even to the
Black Sea. General Jones said Cap Verde had agreed to his
proposal to host an exercise with the new NATO Response
Force. He had also arranged a NATO-led assistance mission to
Darfur at the recent AU meeting in Addis Ababa. At the same
time, General Jones said he was looking to expand EUCOM's
scope in Africa as well.


4. (C) On terrorism, General Jones said Tunisia seemed to
understand the broad, international nature of the threat, but
he wondered if the Europeans shared the understanding that it
could not be handled as a domestic issue. Chtioui said
Tunisia had long appreciated the nature of the threat, and in
1995 Tunisian President Ben Ali had warned that Europe was
being used as a staging ground for exiled extremists. Now,
most people were aware of the problem, but still differed
over the methods of fighting terrorism. Tunisia liked the
network/information sharing approach, both on the civilian
and military sides, and was working very closely with
European "5 plus 5" neighbors (France, Italy, Spain,
Portugal, Malta) to coordinate tactics. Chtioui again urged
more material assistance to African nations to ensure they
could work as an effective part of the network.

5. (C) General Jones and Chtioui agreed that security would
come from proactive, preventive policies--a shift from NATO's
traditional approach--and sustained partnerships. The
envelope of security requires a solid fusion of military,
economic, and social support, General Jones said, and Chtioui
agreed that had been Tunisia's experience since the 80s.

Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Initiative (TSCTI)
-------------- --------------


6. (C) Chtioui asked for a brief on TSCTI. General Jones
summarized that it was a new concept, a EUCOM idea that now
involved nine countries, including Tunisia. It was designed
to be proactive and promote cooperation and intelligence
sharing; hopefully it would help friends in the region get
the help they needed to combat terrorism. But it was just
getting off the ground, and while there seemed to be good
support for the Initiative in Washington, good sources of
funding had not yet been established.


7. (C) Ambassador Atallah (who was until recently Tunisia's
Ambassador to the U.S) asked General Jones to elaborate on
structural changes to EUCOM that seemed to be on the horizon.
General Jones explained there would be a reduction in the
number of forces in Europe, but the force left behind (which
would include rotational forces) would be more strategically
oriented. Part of the change would involve a menu of basing
options, all existing with the agreement of the host
government: There would be permanent, strategic bases such
as Ramstein, forward-operating sites such as Camp Bondsteel
in Kosovo, which were large but not designed to be permanent;
"cooperative security locations" where basic services (water,
electricity, a runway) existed and could be used for short,
30-60 day missions including humanitarian or medical
missions. Finally, there would be bilateral agreements to
conduct training; these would normally involve a Status of
Forces Agreement with the U.S.. General Jones said all these
options could help the speed and proactiveness of EUCOM
forces, while at the same time being less costly and less
visible to host nation populations.

Algeria/Libya:
--------------


8. (C) Chtioui asked about engagement with Libya, commenting
that Libya had often been critical of Tunisia's involvement
with the U.S., but Libya's inclusion in this regional effort
would help it normalize relations on all fronts. General
Jones said there were some political issues still on the
table with Libya, such as the detention of the Bulgarian
medical workers, but all signs were that once these were
resolved there would be room for engagement. On Algeria,
General Jones said that in the last few years, cooperation
with Algeria had "improved dramatically."


9. (C) Comment: The Tunisian message to General Jones is
clearly "we want to participate, cooperate to the extent we
can, but we need help." The exchange may have suggested to
the Tunisian side that if they increase their participation
in Active Endeavor and in the planning for TSCTI, there may
be a material pay off down the road. While the GOT has
always preferred to be discreet about its military
relationship with the U.S. in terms of its public, we did not
sense any fence sitting on their part regarding future
involvement with EUCOM or NATO on that score. That said,
various media regional reports have exaggerated plans for
future basing, including in Tunisia, and the Tunisian side
was probably tasked with trying to clarify that issue.

BALLARD