AI SITREP MARCH 28: PA FINISHES CULLING IN RAFAH;

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 001271 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR WILLIAMS/GREENE/WAECHTER; NEA/RA FOR LAWSON; OES FOR DALEY; NSC FOR ABRAMS, DORAN, MUSTAFA; STATE PASS TO USAID/BORODIN; STATE PASS TO USDA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KFLU TBIO SENV ECON EAGR EAID KWBG IS SUBJECT: AI SITREP MARCH 28: PA FINISHES CULLING IN RAFAH; SECURITY PROBLEMS DELAY CULLING IN JAHR EL-DEIK REF: JERUSALEM 1231 AND PREVIOUS PA completes culling in Rafah -------------- ¶1. (SBU) PA Agriculture Ministry Gaza Director of Control and Quarantine Said Siyam said the PA had culled 13,000 chickens in Rafah March 27 and asserted that they would start culling chickens in farms located in Jahr el-Deik and Tel el-Hawa March 28. Siyam said the lab test results for Tel el-Hawa (1 km south of Gaza City) had returned positive for AI and that the area had been placed under quarantine March ¶23. WHO Representative Mahmud Daher reported that poisoned drinking water had been administered to 23,000 egg-layers in Tel el-Hawa March 27, with culling to begin March 28. Serious security concerns prevent culling operations from continuing -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Outgoing PA Agriculture Minister Walid Abed Rabo reported to EconOff on the serious difficulties that had surrounded the culling of the Rafah flocks He described how Rafah farmers had shot at MOA staff and kidnapped one MOA official for two hours, and how those Rafah farmers had also refused to bury the culled poultry carcasses until they received compensation. He said an agreement was finally reached and the farmers finished burying the poultry March ¶28. ¶3. (SBU) Given the Agriculture Ministry's experience in Rafah, Abed Rabo said he now wanted a police escort for his staff to enter the affected properties in Jahr el-Deik and Tel el-Hawa to cull the flocks. However, he said that the PA Ministry of Interior had not yet responded to his calls for assistance. USG-purchased PPE kits arrive in Gaza -------------- ¶4. (SBU) 1500 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits arrived at Ben Gurion Airport March 27 and were being delivered to Gaza (1300 kits) and the West Bank (200 kits) by USAID's NGO partner CARE. At 15:30 local time, March 28, USAID staff confirmed that the 1300 PPE kits (in 52 boxes) were handed over PA staff at the Erez crossing March 28. WALLES