MALAYSIAN DEPLOYMENT TO EAST TIMOR, CLOSE

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUALA LUMPUR 000963 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2016 TAGS: MOPS MARR PREL AS TT PO NZ MY SUBJECT: MALAYSIAN DEPLOYMENT TO EAST TIMOR, CLOSE COOPERATION WITH AUSTRALIA REF: A. STATE 85472 ¶B. USDAO KUALA LUMPUR MY IIR 6 862 0188 06 Classified By: Pol/C Thomas F. Daughton for reasons 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (C) A Malaysian Ministry of Defense policy official informed us on May 26 that a flight transporting 25 Malaysian troops and two police officers had been diverted to Bali, Indonesia late on May 25, while Australian forces were securing the airfield in East Timor. The official expected that these 27 would proceed to East Timor on May 26. He also informed us that 250 more Malaysian troops were on stand-by for deployment via air once the 27 troops and police were in place. Per ref A, we expressed U.S. appreciation for Malaysian commitments to support East Timor and the Australian-led security effort there. (Note: Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is also defense minister, told the local press May 25 that Malaysia was planning to send a combined police and military force of as many as 500 men, with the number depending on the situation. He also said Malaysia would be seeking a UN mandate for the deployment. End Note.) ¶2. (C) Australian Deputy High Commissioner Peter Doyle told us May 26 that the Australian government was "extremely pleased" with the scale and pace of Malaysian participation in the East Timor security effort, as well as with the level of cooperation and coordination between the Malaysian and Australian governments in this matter. Doyle said that Malaysian deployments were being coordinated through the Malaysian Defense Attache in Canberra. Operational matters would be handled on the ground in East Timor. Doyle expected the advance Malaysian contingent of 27 to arrive in East Timor on May 26. He also understood that two Royal Malaysian Navy vessels were proceeding to East Timor, and that either 225 or 250 additional troops were preparing to be flown into East Timor. (Comment: Malaysia and Australia are partners in the Five Power Defense Arrangements (FPDA),a 1971 cooperative defense arrangement that also includes New Zealand, the UK and Singapore. Regular FPDA and bilateral exercises and the longstanding deployment of a small number of Australian forces in Butterworth, Malaysia, have built a web of strong and compatible defense ties between Kuala Lumpur and Canberra that has endured past political differences.) LAFLEUR