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