GPOI FUNDING: INDONESIAN PLANS FOR A TRAINING

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 013308 SIPDIS SIPDIS PM/PPA FOR FEATHERSTONE, EAP/RSP FOR ORTIZ, EAP/MTS FOR COMLEY E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/27/2016 TAGS: KPKO MARR MASS PREL ID SUBJECT: GPOI FUNDING: INDONESIAN PLANS FOR A TRAINING CENTER REF: A. STATE 182164 NOTAL ¶B. JAKARTA 12546 ¶1. (C) Poloff and ODC Chief met with Department of Foreign Affairs officer for International Security and Disarmament Yonatri Rilmania on November 14 to learn more about a planned Indonesian center for peacekeeping training and to explain U.S. funding possibilities for this and other potential needs. We made a presentation along the lines suggested in ref a. Yonatri said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DEPLU),the Department of Defense (DEPHAN),the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and the Indonesian National Police (INP) had jointly drafted a decree to create the center. It had been sent to the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs some time ago and was awaiting approval. One further interagency meeting with the coordinating ministry was scheduled to occur, and it was expected that Deputy Minister R. Matonda would sign the decree. ¶2. (C) The Peacekeeping Training Center would be a small coordinating office located in DEPLU, while actual peacekeeping training would occur at existing military training sites near Jakarta and elsewhere. (The training of Indonesia's UNIFIL battalion, for instance, occurred primarily at Bogor; Bandung also has training facilities.) The Center, which would be headed by a director yet to be identified, would establish an interagency Working Group to develop, implement and oversee the training program. ¶3. (C) Our presentation summarized the GPOI program and its relationship to UN programs. We emphasized that Indonesia could use such training for UN, regional or other operations, as Indonesia determined was best; and Indonesia was under no obligation to participate in any given operation. We outlined projected funding that would be available for Indonesia under GPOI in FY06, FY07 and FY08. We noted that the TNI was already a participant in the Multinational Planning Augmentation Team (MPAT) program and therefore had ready access to its peacekeeping activities in the Asia-Pacific region. Indonesia had participated in the 2006 COBRA GOLD in Thailand. In principle, we stressed, Indonesia had already agreed to the tenets of GPOI. We outlined the various phases, beginning with a UN assessment, which would occur over several years to completion of the program. ¶4. (C) Yonatri said Indonesia was proud of its history of peacekeeping operations and wanted an increased role in this area, not only for UN operations but also regionally, similar to the ones Malaysia and the Philippines had developed. Indonesia wanted to join ASEAN neighbors to develop a joint peacekeeping capability within the Southeast Asia region. ¶5. (C) Yonatri stressed that since the Center would likely not involve a new building but would simply be an office embedded in DEPLU, there might be limited opportunity for funding for the Center itself. In terms of funding of training sites and related materials and equipment, we emphasized that U.S. GPOI funding was designed for facilities dedicated to GPOI training and should avoid duplication of the training materials or equipment at multiple sites. Yonatri was unable to say to what extent Indonesia planned to centralize its PKO training in such a way as to meet this requirement. ¶6. (C) Separately, a USPACOM delegation which visited Jakarta the week of November 6 briefed TNI officers on the GPOI program and U.S. assistance. The TNI interlocutors were noncommittal but expressed interest and said they would brief the program to headquarters. PASCOE