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