IRAQ: CROATIA OFFERS WEAPONS AND TRAINING TO NATO

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 001364 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE HOH, SAINZ, BALIAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/12/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS MARR ASEC IZ HR DEFENSE REFORM SUBJECT: IRAQ: CROATIA OFFERS WEAPONS AND TRAINING TO NATO TRAINING MISSION REF: ZAGREB 983 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Political Officer Tom Selinger for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Pjer Simunovic provided PolOff November 9 with a list of weapons and training courses the GoC has offered to the NATO Training Mission in Iraq (NTM-I). Weapons range from 500 x 7.62mm assault rifles to 10 x 82mm recoilless guns, while training includes courses for military police, navy divers, and military dogs and their handlers. According to Simunovic, Croatia's mission to NATO turned the list in to NATO Operations on November 3. ¶2. (C) While the GoC is unable to send troops to Iraq, this offer of equipment and training reflects its commitment to furthering its engagement in other ways, including plans to open a permanent diplomatic mission in Baghdad (reftels). END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. FROM GRENADE LAUNCHERS TO ANTI-TERRORIST TRAINING -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Weapons the GoC is offering to donate to the NTM-I are as follows: -Assault rifle, 7.62 x 39mm, quantity 500 -Rocket-propelled grenade launcher, M79 "OSA", quantity 100 -Machine gun, 7.9 x 57mm, quantity 10 -Machine gun, 14.5mm, quantity 10 -Rocket-propelled grenade launcher, RPG-2, quantity 10 -Mortar, 60mm M57, quantity 30 -Recoilless gun, 82mm M60, quantity 10 -Gun, 20mm M75, quantity 10 Simunovic did not discuss GoC plans for transporting the weapons to Iraq. ¶4. (C) The GoC is offering the following training courses for Iraqi Security Forces: -Military Police (basic, traffic),20 days for 6 personnel -Anti-terrorist forces, 38 days for 10 personnel -Vital infrastructure protection, 15 days for 4 personnel -VIP security, 20 days for 4 personnel -Peace Support Operations (train the trainer),14 days for 15 personnel -Basic Navy Diving, 6 weeks for 10 personnel The GoC is also offering to train up to 6 dogs and handlers in: -Explosive ordinance detection, 7 months -Narcotics detection, 7 months -Protection/Search and Rescue, 6 months BRADTKE