BELGIAN PLANS ON AFGHANISTAN AT JANUARY 26

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 000233

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2017
TAGS: AF BE EAID MARR MOPS PINS PREL
SUBJECT: BELGIAN PLANS ON AFGHANISTAN AT JANUARY 26
INFORMAL NATO FOREIGN MINISTERIAL

REF: A. A. STATE 7434

B. B. STATE 4834 C. 2006 USNATO 0658 D

C. 2006 BRUSSELS 4152

Classified By: DCM William Imbrie; reasons 1.5 B and D.


1. (C) Per refs A and B instructions, we outlined U.S.
thinking on Afghanistan with
the three key players on this issue in Belgium -- the Prime
Minister's Office, the Foreign
Ministry, and the Defense Ministry. Our contacts were
pleased to learn of USG plans to provide
additional support for Afghanistan, and reaffirmed the
Verhofstadt government's intention to
implement the commitments it made during the NATO summit in
Riga. (Belgian assistance plans are
outlined in ref C.)


2. (C ) We expect the Belgians to use the
January 26 session in Brussels to announce one important,
but still incremental adjustment to their Riga
commitments. According to senior sources in the Foreign
Ministry and the Prime Minister's office, the Belgians intend
to take over management of Kabul Airport starting in
October 2007 for what they anticipate will stretch to a full
year, during which the airport will extend
services to both civilian and military. This broadened
mandate will entail a slight increase in the number
of deployed troops, where most are now stationed. Despite
persistent requests to do so, the Belgians are
not planning any changes in their policy on caveats.
Extending the deployment of Belgium,s sole
C-130 in Afghanistan since October 2006 beyond February 2007
will be decided in light of international priorities
(Afghanistan, Lebanon, DRC) at that time. We understand the
Prime Minister is prepared to make a commitment
of F-16,s (it has a total of four) to Afghanistan in October
-- if he is re-elected in June. The importance
of the election calculations in the decisions of government
leaders, a senior diplomat explained, is based in
part on the fact that Afghanistan is not a popular public
issue here.


3. (U) Belgium's plans for a net increase of Euro
30 million in development assistance for 2007-2010
remain unchanged. It also has Euro one million remaining to
be spent from the 2001 Tokyo donors meeting. Experts
in the Development Ministry are actively seeking to identify
projects for that as well as the first new tranche
of Euro 4.7 million. The Foreign Ministry stressed that
Belgium is open to suggestions (Ref A, for
example) for new development projects. Our interlocutor
there undertook to learn if the addition of
Afghanistan to Belgium,s list of development partners might
be advantageous in fulfilling
Belgium,s Official Development Assistance (ODA)
numbers. He discussed how, even in major structural
projects as road-building, Belgium seeks to work through
organizations that engage Afghan workers and
increases their sense of national ownership. We understand
that the Belgians are speaking with Dutch and Thai
NGO,s on continued rule of law and counter-narcotics
programs.


4. (U) Belgium has no Embassy but only one junior
diplomat in Afghanistan, who conducts his work by
computer and attends coordinating meetings with the Belgian
military, we were told (like an American
Presence Post ) APP, it would seem). If the country
develops more assistance projects, the Foreign
Ministry, it would then need to open a development assistance
office.


Korologos


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