PAYING THE AUXILIARY POLICE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 004452 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/FO DAS GASTRIGHT, SCA/A, S/CRS, S/CT, EUR/RPM STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG NSC FOR AHARRIMAN OSD FOR BREZINSKI CENTCOM FOR CFC-A, CG CJTF-76, POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/29/2016 TAGS: SNAR PTER PGOV ASEC AF SUBJECT: PAYING THE AUXILIARY POLICE REF: KABUL 4388 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Richard Norland, for reasons 1.4 b, d. ¶1. (C) Summary: Embassy is urging LOTFA donors, particularly those engaged in security operations in the south, to facilitate and provide additional funding for auxiliary police under command and control of the Ministry of Interior, in order to quickly establish a security presence in fragile areas of the south. We do not expect to request any additional US funding from Washington in order to support this program. End summary. ¶2. (C) German Ambassador for Police Affairs Helmut Frick called a meeting of Law and Order Trust Fund Afghanistan (LOTFA) donors on September 28 to discuss the following issues: 1) could LOTFA funds be used to pay salaries of auxiliary police; 2) what amount of money would be needed; and 3) how to resolve the issue of governors, operational funds that are now being used to pay for militias. Attendees included Charge and A/PolMilCouns, CSTC-A Commander MG Durbin and Deputy Commander BG O,Brien, UNDP, EU, UK, Canadian, Dutch, and Japanese representatives. ¶3. (C) It was quickly agreed that since the auxiliary police under the new Terms of Reference as approved by President Karzai are recruited by and in the regular chain of command of the Ministry of Interior, and differ from regular police only in that they are contracted for one year (vice three for the regular police) and receive training in stages, they are indeed police and eligible to be paid by LOTFA. ¶4. (C) MG Durbin said that the maximum cost for auxiliary police (AXP) in this solar year (Mar 21- Mar 20) was USD 6 million. That would be if 11,000 AXP (the number requested by the GOA) were immediately recruited and fielded to 124 districts in 14 provinces. In practice, the cost will be substantially lower since recruitment is proceeding first in Zabol and then will move to other key provinces such as Ghazni and Kandahar. It is therefore highly unlikely that the 11,000 figure will be reached by March 2007. ¶5. (C) Vladimir Krivenkov, Project Manager for LOTFA, briefed that the fund is approximately USD 18 million in arrears for this solar year. That number may drop further as audit teams count the actual number of policemen in the provinces (probably substantially less than the 65,000 that MOI bills LOTFA for every month). The Dutch and Canadian representatives indicated that their countries are considering making substantial new contributions to LOTFA. Support for Operations in the South -------------- ¶6. (C) Charge made a strong case that, in order to follow up Operation Medusa with necessary security (reftel),nations with troops in the southern provinces where the auxiliary police concept will be implemented, i.e. the British, Canadians, and Dutch, should step up with additional donations to cover KABUL 00004452 002 OF 002 the LOTFA deficit so that the police can be fully funded. While there is no mechanism to earmark funds for auxiliary police, it is to be hoped that the deficit will be covered for this solar year. (Note: BG O,Brien explained that the amount of money needed for LOTFA next year will probably be significantly higher than this year,s USD 120 million, due in part to the full implementation of the auxiliary police program, i.e. a USD 11 million additional requirement, and other factors.) Governors, Operational Funds -------------- ¶7. (C) The group also discussed the governor,s operational funds that are now being used to pay for militias/arbakei. Krivenkov explained that this fund was the result of a Presidential directive several years ago, originally intended for security but now treated as a discretionary fund that the governors receive from MOI in the amount of USD 100,000 to 200,000 per month. He added that the central fund is close to depletion for this solar year, having spent all but USD 2 million of the total amount available. It was agreed that the international community would not try to have the fund revoked, but that it would request the PAG, in a Presidential meeting, to direct that in places where the auxiliary police had been formed the governors could not use their operational fund to play for additional militias. (Note: There was also discussion of the role of the governor in the police command and control structure; MG Durbin explained that ambiguous language in the Police Law is being clarified by the MOI and Attorney General,s office so that the governors understand that they have a consultative rather than command role. He said MOI Deputy Minister Khalid briefed the governors in the southern provinces on this during a long meeting on auxiliary police in Kandahar on Sept 27 (septel). End note.) ¶8. (C) The final decision regarding release of LOTFA funds to pay for the auxiliary police must be taken by the LOTFA Steering Committee soon, in order for the first batch of policemen in Zabol to be paid on Oct 21. It was therefore agreed that an extraordinary session of the Steering Committee should be called within the next two weeks. NORLAND