KOSOVO: KPC DEMINING CAPACITY IS IMPROVING,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PRISTINA 000923

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE AND PRM/WRA
NSC FOR BRAUN
USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI
USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2016
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCRM EAID KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: KPC DEMINING CAPACITY IS IMPROVING,
LANDMINES NO LONGER IMPEDE MOVEMENT OR DEVELOPMENT


Classified By: COM TINA KAIDANOW FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: There is room for optimism as the 2006
demining season draws to a close. Despite earlier criticism
by the international de-mining NGO, HALO Trust, of the
demining capabilities of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC),
an August 2006 study by the International Centre for
Humanitarian Demining determined that landmines and
unexploded ordnance do not impede movement or socioeconomic
development in Kosovo, and that by 2007 the KPC will have
sufficient capacity to manage the residual future threat.
According to UNMIK's Office of the KPC Coordinator (OKPCC),
there are only 15 dangerous areas remaining in Kosovo (the
same number as at the beginning of 2006) and 45 low-priority
explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) tasks to be completed. On
November 21, COM will participate in the hand-over of
replacement demining equipment that PM/WRA donated through
the International Trust Fund (ITF) in Slovenia. END SUMMARY.

Key Demining Actors in Post-conflict Kosovo


2. (SBU) Following the 1999 conflict, the United Nations Mine
Action Coordination Center (UNMACC) coordinated most mine
survey and clearance work in Kosovo. In 2002, UNMACC ceased
operations in Kosovo and the UNMIK Office of the KPC
Coordinator (OKPCC) became the focal point for clearance of
landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). It established an
EOD Management Section, which coordinates removal of
landmines and UXO, and does quality assurance, mine risk
education (MRE),public information and victim assistance
work. It also manages the Information Management System for
Mine Action (IMSMA) database, which contains information on
existing and cleared areas.


3. (C) OKPCC relies on KPC EOD teams, KFOR, HALO and the
Mine Awareness Trust (MAT) for demining and EOD-related work,
and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) provides
reach-back support. In June 2005, KFOR turned over EOD
response to KPC for items reported during their normal
working hours (0800 to 1600),but there are a number of
caveats to this agreement. For example, KFOR responds to
calls if 1) criminal activity is suspected, 2) the UXO is
over 100 mm, 3) the device is too technically sophisticated
to be removed using the KPC's equipment, or 4) the UXO is
located very close to KFOR installations. The KPC has seven
demining teams, but one is always devoted to EOD response.
They have a rotating schedule, so each team does one week of
EOD response every seven weeks. UNMIK OKPCC EOD Section Head
Ahmet Sallova told poloff that EOD calls go to the Kosovo
Police Service (KPS) or UNMIK Police, and they refer them to
KFOR. KFOR decides whether to send KPC demining teams, and
Sallova estimates that KFOR handles about 50 percent of the
calls themselves. Poloff spoke to American Lt. Col. Danny
Hansen of the KFOR Inspectorate for the KPC and asked why
KFOR takes so many EOD calls between 0800 and 1600. He said
it has nothing to do with a lack of confidence in the KPC's
demining teams, and is more a result of KFOR already being in
the communities where the items are found and of the
aforementioned caveats.

HALO Questions KPC's Capabilities


4. (SBU) Assessing demining efforts in 2005, OKPCC determined
that by 2007 the KPC could develop sufficient capacity to
manage the residual threat in Kosovo and develop and plan
accordingly. In May 2006, UNMIK invited UNMAS to conduct a
short threat and capability study to confirm OKPCC's
assessment. Their findings matched OKPCC's, but an
international de-mining NGO, HALO Trust, disputed them. As
a result, OKPCC commissioned another independent study by the
Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining
(GICHD),which was conducted in August 2006.


5. (SBU) GICHD upheld the findings of the OKPCC and UNMAS,
but suggested some improvements in processes and to the IMSMA

PRISTINA 00000923 002 OF 003


database, as well as better liaison between OKPCC, the KPC,
KFOR and OSCE. They also reported that "mines/UXO generally
do not impede movement or socioeconomic development in
Kosovo," but that in some rural areas "the perceived or real
threat of mines/UXO may affect the population."

The Remaining Threat


6. (SBU) Despite the fact that landmines and UXO no longer
impede movement or development, they still pose a threat in
Kosovo. Since the end of 1999, they have killed 111 and
injured 418. So far in 2006, they have killed one person and
injured nine. According to OKPCC estimates, 15 dangerous
areas still remain, compared with 4,520 when the conflict
ended in 1999. There are also 45 low-priority EOD tasks to
be completed. Demining teams have cleared 2,438,659 square
meters of land in 2006 alone, and removed 548 landmines, 776
cluster munitions and 1,040 items of UXO.


7. (C) Unfortunately, demining teams have cleared much less
land in 2006 than they did a year ago. In 2005, they cleared
a total of 4,318,966 square meters of land, and removed 749
landmines, 977 cluster munitions and 1,378 pieces of UXO.
When the figures are broken down by KPC, NGOs and KFOR, there
is a noticeable drop in the KPC demining teams' productivity.
Last year, they cleared 1,706,670 square meters of land, 209
landmines, 126 cluster munitions, and 203 pieces of UXO,
while to date in 2006, they have only cleared 639,973 square
meters of land, 84 landmines, 307 cluster munitions, and 149
items of UXO.


8. (C) Sallova attributes the decline in productivity
primarily to the KPC demining teams' inadequate equipment,
which he said caused them not only to work at about half of
their capacity, but to scrap plans for expanding their teams.
He said having one of the teams pulled off of regular
demining work for EOD response had also been a factor, as had
the fact that each of the demining teams spent three weeks in
an MAT technical survey training course funded by the UK's
Ministry of Defence. He also noted that the KPC demined the
Pristina Airport last year, which contributed to the higher
clearance figures in 2005. Lt. Col. Hansen concurred with
Sallova's assessment that the KPC were less productive
largely because of the old equipment. Despite this year's
setbacks, Sallova said he was optimistic that the clearance
figures would improve in 2007 thanks to the USG's donation of
replacement demining equipment.

The Road Ahead


9. (SBU) OKPCC plans to develop an action plan to address
GICHD's recommendations and better serve the Kosovar people.
It will also continue to rely more heavily on KPC EOD teams.
As a result of increased KPC demining capacity, HALO will
cease operations in Kosovo by the end of 2006 and the MAT
Trust will leave in 2007. OKPCC says KFOR will also
gradually reduce its work. This is consistent with what Lt.
Col. Hansen told Poloff. He said current thinking is to plus
up the KPC demining teams with experienced deminers recruited
from the NGOs that are ceasing operations, redefine the
Memorandum of Understanding between KFOR and the KPC on EOD
response, expand the KPC's responsibilities, and improve
lines of communication between local municipal and police
officials and the KPC demining unit.


10. (C) The future of humanitarian demining will need to be
addressed before status is decided, and it will inevitably be
linked to the future of the KPC. If the KPC's EOD section
becomes part of any post-status Kosovo defense force, the
general consensus is that its demining work will shift to
supporting NATO missions abroad. In that case, a Mine Action
Center or some other civilian organization would need to be
created to coordinate domestic humanitarian demining work.
When asked about the future of the OKPCC EOD Section post
status, Sallova told poloff that no one had discussed with

PRISTINA 00000923 003 OF 003


OKPCC exactly what will happen. Lt. Col. Hansen speculated
that post status the civil protection brigade would continue
to perform humanitarian demining work. (NOTE: HALO Trust
will donate its demining equipment to the KPC before leaving
Kosovo, and the KPC is procuring additional demining
equipment. The HALO donation and new procurement will equip
the new deminers. END NOTE)


11. (SBU) COMMENT: Increased scrutiny of the KPC's demining
capabilities is a positive development. It has resulted in
an in-depth study that not only confirmed the KPC EOD teams'
capacity to handle the residual threat in Kosovo by next
year, but also highlighted ways to improve current processes.
We will continue to support demining capacity-building in
Kosovo: PRM/WRA recently donated USD 180,000 worth of
replacement demining equipment to the KPC to help improve
efficiency, and an official hand-over ceremony will take
place on November 21, attended by COM. END COMMENT.


12. (SBU) U.S. Office Pristina clears this cable in its
entirety for release to U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
KAIDANOW