Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BERLIN123
2007-01-22 11:57:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Berlin
Cable title:  

German Out-Of-Area Deployment Update

Tags:  MOPS PREL GM 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4289
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHRL #0123/01 0221157
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221157Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6734
INFO RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 9191
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS BE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BERLIN 000123 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: MOPS PREL GM
SUBJECT: German Out-Of-Area Deployment Update

REF: Berlin 2634

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BERLIN 000123

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: MOPS PREL GM
SUBJECT: German Out-Of-Area Deployment Update

REF: Berlin 2634


1. (SBU) As of January 14, Germany has 7,486 military personnel in
out-of-area deployments. All military out-of-area (OOA) deployments,
with the exception of observers such as in Georgia (where currently
11 military personnel are deployed under UNOMIG),require
parliamentary approval. A law regulates the parliamentary process,
allowing expedited procedures only for non-controversial
deployments. What follows is a brief run-down on Germany's current
OOA deployments.

-------------- -
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
-------------- -


2. (SBU) The Bundeswehr has 2,903 military personnel operating in
Afghanistan under the UNSC mandate for ISAF. The ceiling for the
deployment is 3000 personnel. Germany commands ISAF's northern
region (RC-North),where it operates two Provincial Reconstruction
Teams (Konduz and Feyzabad) and the Forward Support Base in
Mazar-E-Sharif. The mandate limits the Bundeswehr's operations to
Kabul and RC-North, but Germany can provide assistance outside that
sector provided it is of limited time and scope and essential for
the mission. The current parliamentary mandate extends through
October 13, 2007. Following a NATO request, the German government
is currently considering deploying Tornado reconnaissance aircraft.
Even though this could legally be possible under the current ISAF
mandate, political considerations might result in the government
requesting a revised mandate from the Bundestag.

-------------- ---
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
-------------- ---


3. (SBU) Germany is the lead for UNIFIL's naval component and has
1,011 military personnel deployed.
The parliamentary mandate, which has a ceiling of 2,400 personnel,
expires with the UN mandate on August 31, 2007.

--------------
Kosovo Force (KFOR)
--------------


4. (SBU) Germany has 2,324 military personnel under the KFOR
mandate, which has a ceiling of 8,500 total personnel. The mandate
extends automatically unless there is a change to the UNSC
Resolution framework for the Kosovo Force.

--------------
European Union Force (EUFOR) Bosnia
--------------


5. (SBU) Germany currently has 896 soldiers in Bosnia as part of the
EU's Operation ALTHEA. The mandate, amended on December 1, 2006,

allows up to 2,400 military personnel. This operation extends
automatically unless there is a change to its underlying UNSC
resolution. Security conditions permitting, the German government
has announced it intends to reduce its military presence in
coordination with its allies during 2007.

--------------
EUFOR RD Congo
--------------


6. (SBU) The EUFOR operation in Congo (maximum ceiling 780 military
personnel in Congo and Gabon) ended on November 30, 2007. All
forces returned to Germany end of December 2006.

--------------
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)
--------------


7. (SBU) The German Navy has 258 military personnel operating on the
Horn of Africa under OEF. The OEF mandate, which has a ceiling of
1,800 personnel, also covers the deployment of Special Forces for
counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan. There are currently no
acknowledged German OEF forces in Afghanistan. The OEF mandate also
covers contributions to NATO's Operation Active Endeavor (OAE). The
OEF mandate extends through November 15, 2007.

--------------
United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS)
--------------


8. (SBU) Germany currently has 35 military observers in UNMIS,
monitoring the implementation of the peace agreement. The
parliament imposed a caveat, which bars military observers from
going to Darfur without consultation of the Bundestag Foreign

BERLIN 00000123 002 OF 002


Relations Committee's chairman and ranking members. The mandate
allows the participation of up to 75 military observers.

--------------
African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS)
--------------


9. (SBU) The German Air Force provides logistical support for the AU
mission in Darfur, Sudan - primarily airlift into and out-of theater
for rotating AMIS forces. The mandate allows up to 200 military
personnel. There currently are no German soldiers in-theater. The
mandate will expire on June 2, 2007.

-------------- --------------
New Deployment since December 2006 Update:
-------------- --------------


10. (SBU) The Bundeswehr, at the MFA's request, sent an unarmed team
of 3 military personnel to Latin America (Belize, Guatemala, El
Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama) in order to
assess the security situation in these countries. These Bundeswehr
personnel support German a crisis intervention teams (Krisen
Unterst|tzungs- Teams, KUT) that would be responsible for evacuating
German and EU expatriates and improving Embassy security in country.
The deployment does not require any parliamentary approval, as the
team is unarmed.

--------------
Other minor deployments:
--------------


11. (SBU) Two military observers serve in Ethiopia and Eritrea for
the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). One
soldier is seconded to the EU's advisory and assistance mission for
security reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo (EUSEC - R.D.
CONGO). One German military observer is seconded to the United
Nation Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). The Bundeswehr
has seconded 41 military personnel to Strategic Medical Evacuation
(STRATAIRMEDEVAC),for which no parliamentary mandate is required,
as it is not defined as an armed deployment and the aircraft are on
stand-by in Germany.
TIMKEN, JR