INDONESIA CONSIDERING DARFUR PKO ISSUES

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 004466 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/06/2016 TAGS: MASS MARR PREL KPKO ID SU SUBJECT: INDONESIA CONSIDERING DARFUR PKO ISSUES REF: STATE 51776 Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER RAYMOND RICHHART. REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) We delivered on April 4 the points contained reftel to the Director for International Security and Disarmament Affairs at the Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs, Hassan Kleib, to urge Indonesian support for re-hatting as a UN PKO the African Union Mission in Sudan. We also pressed Kleib to explore Indonesian participation in such a UN force. Kleib undertook to obtain his government's view on both issues. ¶2. (C) When on April 6 we again contacted Kleib, he told us he remained in the process of consulting with the other GOI elements that have a role in peacekeeping. Indonesia currently has some 203 troops deployed in an engineer battalion in the UN PKO in the Congo. The GOI -- which recently named Kleib its coordinator for peacekeeping operations -- has plans to expand its peacekeeping capabilities, and we noted to Kleib that the Darfur operation would be a good opportunity to do so. We will continue to press Kleib on Indonesian participation PASCOE