CARICOM CRICKET SECURITY REQUEST - LETTER TO DOD A/S

UNCLAS GEORGETOWN 000111 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPDC MASS MCAP PREL PARM ASEC XL GY SUBJECT: CARICOM CRICKET SECURITY REQUEST - LETTER TO DOD A/S RODMAN ¶1. (SBU) Post received diplomatic note from the CARICOM Secretariat requesting post to transmit the following letter from CARICOM Acting Secretary General Amb. Lolita Applewaite to Assistant Secretary of SIPDIS Defense Peter W. Rodman. The letter request DOD consider deploying maritime assets to the Caribbean throughout the duration of the Cricket World Cup to aid CARICOM in its surveillance, interdiction and response efforts. CARICOM requests assistance with increasing its capacity to mount an effective response to a Chemical, Biological or Nuclear (CBRN) threat as well as any support in increasing our EOD/IEDD response capability. ¶2. (SBU) BEGIN TEXT: 23 January 2007 Hon. Peter W. Rodman Assistant Secretary of Defense, International Security Affairs Office of the Secretary of Defense 2400 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20301-2400 United States of America Dear Assistant Secretary Rodman: The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) would like to express its deep appreciation to the Government of the United States of America and the Department of Defense in particular, for their continued interest and support for the Community's current efforts, aimed at ensuring the safety and security of ICC/Cricket World Cup 2007. Your participation in the international Support and Advisory Group (ISAG),which has partnered with CARICOM during this important preparatory phase, has been beneficial to our overall planning efforts. A meeting between the leadership of SOUTHCOM and the Commander of the CARICOM Operational Planning and Coordinating Staff (COPACS) in December as well as a recent interaction between security planners from the Region and their counterparts only last week have set the stage for meaningful cooperation, as we seek to implement our security architecture for the games. Our ongoing assessment has identifies some gaps in our Region's collective ability to respond to major threats to the security of our ports. With the significant increase in maritime traffic which is anticipated during the hosting of ICC/CWC 2007, our security planners have been forced to pay particular attention to the possibility of a terrorist attack, which could be directed at large cruise ships, yachts or small pleasure craft, which will be plying the waters of the Region in significant numbers during the tournament. The reality is that even where Coast Guard, Marine Police and counter-terrorism assets do in fact exist within the Caribbean Region, they do not, at the moment, have the capability to deal with a major event, such as a hijacking at sea of a cruise vessel or an even more catastrophic or lethal occurrence such as chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) attack. We are therefore formally requesting - in keeping with ongoing discussions between CARICOM and SOUTHCOM - your consideration of deploying any available maritime assets to the region throughout the duration of the games which could aid CARICOM in our surveillance, interdiction and response efforts and provide support during this period. As previously discussed, CARICOM would also welcome any assistance with increasing our capacity to mount an effective response to a Chemical, Biological or Nuclear (CBRN) threat as well as any support in increasing our EOD/IEDD response capability. CARICOM again remains grateful for your kind facilitation and continues to be appreciative of the very meaningful ongoing support being rendered by the Government of the United States of America. Yours sincerely, Secretary General SIPDIS END TEXT ROBINSON