FATA STRATEGY UPDATE: AUGUST 8, 2007

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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
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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

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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
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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

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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
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13. (U) Embassy's NAS section recently determined the FATA
Secretariat was not ready to take on full road construction

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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.

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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

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programs.

PATTERSON