SUPPORT FOR AMISOM: BELGIAN ENGAGEMENT WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 002675 SIPDIS SIPDIS LONDON FOR BELL ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2017 TAGS: MOPS PHUM PREL KPKO SO BU BE SUBJECT: SUPPORT FOR AMISOM: BELGIAN ENGAGEMENT WITH BURUNDI MILITARY - QUESTION OF BURUNDI'S CAPABILITY REMAINS REF: A. BRUSSELS 2550 ¶B. STATE 110195 Classified By: Political Counselor Theodore H. Andrews, reasons 4 b/d. ¶1. (U) This cable contains an action request. Please see para 5 below. ¶2. (SBU) Subsequent to Ref A, Belgium's Senior Envoy to the Great Lakes Region Jozef Smets gave polmiloff a more thorough and balanced view of Belgian military contributions to Burundi. ¶3. (C) Smets reported on the mid-July meeting between Belgian Minister of Defense (MOD) Andre Flahaut and Burundi MOD LTG Germain Niyoyankana. Niyoyankana had stressed that Burundi's precondition for participating in AMISOM was having the necessary equipment, including tanks. "For the protection of "our" (i.e., Burundian) troops," Smets said, quoting a Belgian military colleague who had attended the meeting. Nikoyanakana had reportedly confirmed Burundi's intention to send a military contingent to AMISOM, under certain conditions: equipment for at least one battalion was assured, which the U.S. had promised; Nikoyankana had asked for a similar contribution from Belgium. Smets made clear that the Belgian government had as yet made no decision on what type of help to provide; such an action must await the conclusion of still continuing cabinet formation talks in Brussels. ¶4. (SBU) Other areas of Belgian support for Burundian military, Smets said, include training programs: for officers (former rebel retooling),presently in its fourth session; management, administration, logistics, planning and medical staff; military scholarships, training in "clearing security"; and a possible new project in military engineering. ¶5. (SBU) Smets asked what the U.S. considers the specific urgent logistical requirements so that Burundi can field a contingent to AMISOM, particularly from the U.S., UK and France. (Request: Post would appreciate guidance for responding to Smets.) ¶6. (C) Comment: Smets' list does not change the more frank, earlier assessment polmiloff received (Ref A),that Burundi was incapable of fielding a single unit, let alone a battalion. The bottom-line question of absorbability by Burundian military of the equipment it is reportedly demanding from outside nations still appears, in the Belgian point of view, unanswered. End Comment. BUSH .