PORTUGAL-AUSTRALIA ACCORD OUTLINES COOPERATION IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LISBON 001091 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/08/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV PT SUBJECT: PORTUGAL-AUSTRALIA ACCORD OUTLINES COOPERATION IN TIMOR REF: A) LISBON 1074 B) CANBERRA 849 Classified By: Dana M. Brown, Pol/Econ Officer, State. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) On June 8, Portuguese Foreign Minister Diogo Freitas do Amaral and Minister of Internal Administration Antonio Costa announced agreement had been achieved regarding operations of the National Republican Guard (GNR) forces and other international contingents deployed to East Timor. The agreement limits GNR forces to Comoro in Dili for now and anticipates increasing areas of responsibility as the situation stabilizes. FM Freitas was careful to conclude the briefing by stating that Portugal will coordinate and cooperate with international forces but will retain control over the GNR. ¶2. (C) MFA Director for International Political Organizations Mario Duarte told Pol/Econ Counselor on June 8 that the agreement, negotiated in Dili and approved in Lisbon and Canberra, should resolve operational tensions on the ground. He believes the international community will now be able to focus on the composition and aims for the new UN mandate in East Timor. Reiterating Ambassador Fernandes Pereira's message from June 7 (ref a),Duarte reported that Portugal envisions a new UN mission that incorporates military, police, and human rights elements, but declined to get into specifics. ¶3. (U) Local newswire Lusa reported the Ministers' statements: (Begin informal translation) -- The Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Internal Administration declared today that the GNR will have exclusive control of the Comoro neighborhood in Dili during a transitional phase, and that the GNR's operation area will become progressively larger. -- "It was possible to conclude a technical agreement which assures cooperation among international forces under a transitional framework(An agreement of progressive action in which forces begin in the most problematic areas of Dili and, as the GNR's equipment arrives, expands," said the Minister for Internal Administration, Antonio Costa. -- By his side, Diogo Freitas do Amaral, the head of diplomacy, when questioned about whether the Portuguese force will be controlled by Australians, affirmed that "in no part of East Timor will Australia command the GNR." End informal translation. ¶4. (C) Shortly after the press conference, FM Freitas do Amaral provided additional clarification on the agreement in a conversation with the Ambassador on another topic. He reported that the Government of East Timor had proposed about a half-dozen "rules of engagement" for the international contingents, and sent them to Lisbon for GOP approval the morning of June 8. The GOP approved them later that day, and he believed the Australians had endorsed them as well. He indicated that the Portuguese and Australian Prime Ministers spoke in the aftermath of the June 7 incident between ADF and GNR forces at a detention center in Dili to smooth things over and to underscore the importance of coordination. Freitas emphasized his view that achievement of a long-term solution in E. Timor will require deployment of a multinational force under UN auspices for an indeterminate period. ¶5. (C) Comment: Portuguese interlocutors, from Freitas down, are hopeful that this agreement will ensure effective coordination among international forces on the ground and allow the international community to begin to focus on shaping a follow-on UN mission. The GOP believes the successor to UNOTIL must include military, police, development, and human rights components, but does not appear to have settled on a detailed proposal beyond those initial LISBON 00001091 002 OF 002 requirements. We will continue to press our contacts to share their detailed thinking on what the UN mission ought to look like. End comment. Hoffman