TRILATERAL COUNTERTERRORISM MEETING, APRIL 27

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 001293

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2017
TAGS: PTER ASEC EFIN KCRM KHLS KPAO ID
SUBJECT: TRILATERAL COUNTERTERRORISM MEETING, APRIL 27

Classified By: Political Officer David Willis for reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: We hosted a trilateral counterterrorism (CT)
meeting on April 27, with Australian and Japanese embassy
counterparts. The three delegations agreed that Indonesian
CT capacity had improved significantly, though the threat of
terrorism would remain for the foreseeable future. Donor
assistance remained necessary for Indonesia to continue to
mark lasting improvements in CT and border and maritime
security. Each delegation shared information on important
bilateral and multilateral programs and identified areas for
further discussion and possible collaboration. The three
countries agreed to form a working group that would focus
initially on maritime security and to arrange other
working-level meetings to handle technical aspects of issues
between plenary sessions. END SUMMARY


2. (C) On April 27, we hosted local Australian and Japanese
Embassy delegations at the U.S. Embassy for a trilateral
counterterrorism (CT) meeting. This interagency
working-level meeting was broadly focused on the Sulawesi Sea
border area and followed up on the trilateral DCM-level
discussion hosted by the Australian Embassy earlier this
year. The meeting was preparatory to the trilateral CT
consultations planned for Sydney in early June.


3. (C) The participants shared the common view that the
terrorism threat in Indonesia remained serious and long term,
and that meaningful progress against it needed sustained
donor assistance, including border and maritime security
programs. Police training programs were noted to have helped
Indonesian National Police (INP) CT units become increasingly
successful at disrupting terrorist plans and networks. The
delegations exchanged information on several of their
respective programs. The Sulawesi Sea border area was
acknowledged as an appropriate assistance target.


4. (C) Several Australian and U.S. attendees shared direct
observations from trips to North Sulawesi and East
Kalimantan, identifying several low-tech solutions to improve
security at critical points of entry in the border area.
Some of the items specifically mentioned were basic
navigational and communications equipment, fences and other
modest improvements at ports of entry, and training on
methodologies to filter out potential suspects from the mass
of daily cross-border travelers. The Japanese added that
their Embassy had discussed similar GOI assistance for other
areas and may be able to do so in the Sulawesi Sea border
area.


5. (C) After acknowledging the difficulty of discussing in
detail the broad range of aid needed in the triborder area,
the three countries agreed to create a maritime security
working group and to arrange other working group meetings as
needed to discuss operational issues and technical
collaboration. Each delegation identified a point of contact
to arrange the working group meetings and agreed that the
group should meet as soon as the arrangements could be made.


6. (C) As in previous local trilateral meetings with the
Australian and Japanese embassies, the U.S. and Australian
representatives drove the discussion, with occasional
substantive remarks from the two Japanese attendees, a
relatively junior but capable political officer and a police
liaison officer. We were, however, encouraged by the
indication that the Japanese may consider assistance in the
border area, and we will continue to engage them on the issue
in the smaller working group discussions.
HEFFERN