FATA STRATEGY UPDATE: AUGUST 8, 2007

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ISLAMABAD 003476 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PK PREL PGOV SUBJECT: FATA STRATEGY UPDATE: AUGUST 8, 2007 ¶1. (U) Summary: Embassy is beginning biweekly snapshot reporting on implementation of the FATA Development Program. Embassy appreciates Washington's support for the FATA initiative, which will require coordination among a number of agencies and funding spigots. These cables will provide detail on implementation of development, security, and infrastructure programs, and highlight issues for Washington's action and attention. Rapid implementation, both here and in Washington, will be key to the overall success of our efforts, particularly in training local security forces and in generating employment. Two urgent issues for the attention of Washington agencies are notification of USAID's $85 million in FY 07 - we are trying to begin capacity building and employment generation programs as soon as possible after the first of the year - and funding for the Frontier Corps and other security forces. End Summary. ¶2. (U) This is the first in a series of biweekly snapshot cables on implementation of the FATA Development Program. We believe that this program has wide support in Washington and on the Hill; at the same time, we recognize and appreciate that a number of members are skeptical about our ability to monitor these programs. We are working to meet these challenges, but issues of Pakistani oversight and coordination will continue to demand our and Washington's attention. Subsequent cables will address implementing challenges and describe in more depth topics such as the nature of the security forces present in the tribal areas. Development: Finalizing Bids -------------- ¶3. (U) USAID received $88 million in FY 07 supplemental funds and has redirected $16 million from existing programs. We understand that the congressional notification for the $88 million is still pending. ¶4. (U) USAID has finalized a bid document to solicit proposals from implementing partners for a FATA Capacity Building Program. Given the lack of capacity among Government of Pakistan implementing partners such as the FATA Secretariat and FATA Development Authority, the Program will SIPDIS be a primary focus of our efforts in 2007 and 2008. The Program will devote approximately $60 million to capacity building over four years; $15 million will be utilized in FY ¶07. The Mission expects to begin the procurement process on or about August 15 and have a contractor selected by December ¶2007. ¶5. (U) USAID anticipates finalizing a second bid document for a FATA Livelihood Development Program by mid-September. The Livelihood Program will be funded at $25 million in FY 07 and will focus on employment generation and skills development (key areas given the numbers of unemployed youth in FATA),agriculture, natural resource management, trade, and business development. A contractor should be selected by January 2008. ¶6. (U) In education programming, USAID is currently finalizing contractor selection for the existing ED-Links Program, which has a significant FATA component and will focus on teacher education, improved learning environments, and governance reforms. USAID is also drafting a third contracting document for its Partnership for Better Schools Program. The bid documents for this program should be finalized in October, and we expect the program to begin in March 2008. ¶7. (U) A three-person team from USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives, which originally visited in June, was in Pakistan the past two weeks to develop specific program proposals for possible employment, consultative, and communications initiatives. The team will produce a paper in the coming weeks outlining these proposals. Security: Building Pakistan's security forces' capacity -------------- -------------- ¶8. (U) There was a U.S.-Pakistan Military Cooperation Committee (MCC) July 31-August 1 to finalize the U.S.-Pak Security Development Plan, a five-year plan to enhance the ISLAMABAD 00003476 002 OF 003 capability of FATA's security forces and Pakistan Army counter-terrorist operations. The Mission was represented by the DCM, USAID, DEA, NAS, and ODRP, and the U.S. delegation was chaired by the J5, U.S. Central Command. ¶9. (U) The Security Development Plan will establish a Frontier Corps Training Center at Warsak, NWFP to train up to 650 persons per training cycle; provide much-needed vehicles and equipment for 8 new Frontier Corps wings (approximately 6,000 persons); offer U.S.-Pak training in intelligence, leadership, and advanced combat. The contract for the construction of a new headquarters and training center for the Frontier Corps at Warsak should be awarded no later than mid-September. ¶10. (U) Levy Training and Equipment: Thanks in part to U.S. training efforts in 2006-2007, 3,500 new Levies (tribal police) recently began duty in three FATA agencies. The Embassy's Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) will spend $5 million in fiscal year 2007 supplemental money to equip these new police with radios and vehicles, and $2 million to initiate a 2007 surge in training. ¶11. (U) Regarding training of FATA security forces, Mission is concerned about the lack of clarity concerning out-year funding for the Frontier Corps. Frontier Corps train and equip requirements are estimated to be about $300 million over the next five years. The equipping and training of this force is key to the success of the overall FATA strategy; these soldiers are native to the FATA and more welcome to the people than the Pakistan military. Frontier Corps support of development projects and long-term law and order will be critical to rendering FATA inhospitable to terrorists and extremists. They have also been instrumental in narcotics seizures, particularly in Balochistan across from Helmand province. The initial $34.7 million for infrastructure, mobility, communications and training the Frontier Corps will come from Defense Department Counter Narcotics funds. One option would be for the Department to request that $30 million of the FMF in the pending FY 08 budget be converted to INCLE funds. We know that the bill has already passed the House but believe that relevant committees would be amenable to this change of labeling in a conference committee. ¶12. (U) Alternatively, we would welcome 1206 authorities to provide $64 million for the Frontier Corps in 2008. (We understand this depends on approval of legislative language that permits use of 1206 funds for the Frontier Corps.) To avoid stop-gap measures, the Mission proposes equipment requirements be supported through Foreign Military Financing beginning in 2010, and that training remain an interagency effort. The current uncertainty makes it difficult for NAS, which has traditionally been responsible for training and equipping the Frontier Corps, to plan its future budgets. Infrastructure: Reprogramming; land dispute; partnerships -------------- -------------- ¶13. (U) Embassy's NAS section recently determined the FATA Secretariat was not ready to take on full road construction SIPDIS funding and asked that $20 million in FY 2007 supplemental money (which was originally budgeted for road construction) be utilized for other projects: ¶14. (U) NAS will spend $5 million on capacity building for the FATA Secretariat's Construction Unit to ensure it is prepared to begin road construction in 2008. USAID will provide $10 million in non-project assistance for contracts to the Construction Unit to support NAS' capacity building effort. ¶15. (U) Levy Training and Equipment: NAS will spend $5 million in FY07 supplemental money to build a new Levy Training Center in Jamrud, Khyber Agency. In addition, NAS has an ongoing project to construct a temporary Levy Training Center with pre-fabricated materials. Work on the temporary facility has stopped, pending the resolution of a tribal land dispute over who would receive compensation from the government for a newly purchased site adjacent to the Levy Training Center site. Consulate Peshawar and the DCM have met with FATA Secretariat Officials, who gave assurances the land dispute would be resolved shortly. ISLAMABAD 00003476 003 OF 003 ¶16. (U) NAS has also engaged with the British Embassy and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to discuss border security projects. UNODC is preparing three separate border management projects (for Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran) that include support for capacity building, inter-agency cooperation, and cross-border cooperation. Pakistani partners will include the Frontier Corps, the Anti-Narcotics Force, Coast Guard, and Customs. In addition to partnering with us on security assistance to the Frontier Corps, the British are helping the FATA Secretariat with technical assistance on border security SIPDIS programs. PATTERSON