Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07USNATO131
2007-03-01 18:00:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Mission USNATO
Cable title:
QATAR-NATO SHOWDOWN OVER AIR OPERATIONS
how-toVZCZCXRO2212 OO RUEHDBU DE RUEHNO #0131 0601800 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 011800Z MAR 07 FM USMISSION USNATO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0551 INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE RUEHDO/AMEMBASSY DOHA IMMEDIATE 0088 RHIPAAA/USCINCCENT FWD IMMEDIATE RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC IMMEDIATE RHMFISS/USNMR SHAPE BE IMMEDIATE RUEHNO/USDELMC BRUSSELS BE IMMEDIATE RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
C O N F I D E N T I A L USNATO 000131
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2017
TAGS: PREL MOPS MARR QA XF
SUBJECT: QATAR-NATO SHOWDOWN OVER AIR OPERATIONS
REF: A. USNATO 117
B. DOHA 206
C. USNATO 113
D. OLSON/RATNEY TELCON 01 MARCH 07
Classified By: AMB VICTORIA NULAND; REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).
C O N F I D E N T I A L USNATO 000131
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2017
TAGS: PREL MOPS MARR QA XF
SUBJECT: QATAR-NATO SHOWDOWN OVER AIR OPERATIONS
REF: A. USNATO 117
B. DOHA 206
C. USNATO 113
D. OLSON/RATNEY TELCON 01 MARCH 07
Classified By: AMB VICTORIA NULAND; REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).
1. (U) This is a request for guidance - see para. 5.
2.(C) Summary: A senior Qatari Air Force officer told NATO
Deputy Assistant Secretary General (DASG) Robert Simmons in
Brussels on March 1 that Qatar would assert full jurisdiction
over NATO personnel in the ISAF liaison group working at the
Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) at the al-Udeid air
base on March 3. This comes in the wake of a breakdown in
NATO-Qatar negotiations on the legal status of NATO personnel
in the CAOC. It is widely expected that the affected Allies
- U.S., UK, Canada and France - will withdraw their personnel
when Qatar asserts full jurisdiction on March 3. The net
affect will be a degradation of ISAF-CENTAF synergy and a
blow to NATO-Qatar political relations. From a USNATO
perspective, in the absence of a catalyst to the system in
Doha, we are unlikely to get back to the negotiating table.
End Summary.
3.(C) In the context of today's NATO-Qatar talks on a
possible broad Qatari-NATO cooperation agreement, BGEN
ABDULLAH asserted to NATO DASG Simmons that Qatar would
assert full jurisdiction over NATO personnel in the ISAF
liaison group working at the CAOC at the al-Udeid airbase on
the evening of March 3. Simmons told representatives of the
five nations potentially affected by this decision - the
U.S., UK, the Netherlands, Canada and France - that he had
explained to the Qatari interagency group (Qatari Air Force,
Foreign and Interior Ministries) that NATO had no judicial
authority to discipline personnel and those NATO nations
operating in the liaison group considered their personnel
covered by bilateral defense cooperation agreements (DCA).
When asked by the French NATO delegation, Simmons said France
was not singled out in exchanges with the Qatari delegation.
Simmons said that he had explained to the Qataris that such
an assertion could prompt sending NATO nations to withdraw
their personnel from the liaison group and could impact
negatively on the prospects for further NATO-Qatari partner
cooperation within the context of the Istanbul Cooperation
Initiative (ICI). In an aside, he also said that several
Qatari officials approached him earlier in the week on the
margins of the EAPC Trust Fund meeting in Washington, D.C. to
repeat Qatar's interest in hosting the possible NATO Security
Cooperation Center for the region. He reminded the Qataris
today that their assertion of jurisdiction may impact
negatively on Allied attitudes towards that offer as well.
4.(C) The UK, in reaction to Simmons' report, said that it
would withdraw its personnel from the liaison group promptly
on a voluntary basis. The Canadians said that they
anticipated an instruction from Ottawa to withdraw their one
officer from the liaison group, although a second Canadian
currently in an exchange program with the U.S. - and
accredited to the OEF/OIF portion of the CAOC - likely would
stay at al-Udeid under their DCA. The Netherlands said that
they currently do not have an officer in Qatar as these
issues arose during their rotation of personnel and they
currently are awaiting a visa for the otherwise designated
incoming officer. The NATO International Military Staff
(IMS) said that, in anticipation of the possible withdrawal
by sending states of their personnel, NATO was preparing the
option to shift liaison functions rapidly to a remote link to
the CAOC from Afghanistan so as to prevent a wide disruption
in air support to ISAF operations.
5.(C) Request for Guidance - USNATO needs to inform NATO
tomorrow OOB whether the U.S. intends to pull our personnel
out from the ISAF liaison group, a step we believe is
warranted. We also request permission to urge Simmons to
advise Qatar that this will have a chilling effect on
NATO-Qatar political relations. Per ref. D, Department also
may wish to instruct Embassy Doha to approach the GoQ with a
similar message.
NULAND
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2017
TAGS: PREL MOPS MARR QA XF
SUBJECT: QATAR-NATO SHOWDOWN OVER AIR OPERATIONS
REF: A. USNATO 117
B. DOHA 206
C. USNATO 113
D. OLSON/RATNEY TELCON 01 MARCH 07
Classified By: AMB VICTORIA NULAND; REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).
1. (U) This is a request for guidance - see para. 5.
2.(C) Summary: A senior Qatari Air Force officer told NATO
Deputy Assistant Secretary General (DASG) Robert Simmons in
Brussels on March 1 that Qatar would assert full jurisdiction
over NATO personnel in the ISAF liaison group working at the
Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) at the al-Udeid air
base on March 3. This comes in the wake of a breakdown in
NATO-Qatar negotiations on the legal status of NATO personnel
in the CAOC. It is widely expected that the affected Allies
- U.S., UK, Canada and France - will withdraw their personnel
when Qatar asserts full jurisdiction on March 3. The net
affect will be a degradation of ISAF-CENTAF synergy and a
blow to NATO-Qatar political relations. From a USNATO
perspective, in the absence of a catalyst to the system in
Doha, we are unlikely to get back to the negotiating table.
End Summary.
3.(C) In the context of today's NATO-Qatar talks on a
possible broad Qatari-NATO cooperation agreement, BGEN
ABDULLAH asserted to NATO DASG Simmons that Qatar would
assert full jurisdiction over NATO personnel in the ISAF
liaison group working at the CAOC at the al-Udeid airbase on
the evening of March 3. Simmons told representatives of the
five nations potentially affected by this decision - the
U.S., UK, the Netherlands, Canada and France - that he had
explained to the Qatari interagency group (Qatari Air Force,
Foreign and Interior Ministries) that NATO had no judicial
authority to discipline personnel and those NATO nations
operating in the liaison group considered their personnel
covered by bilateral defense cooperation agreements (DCA).
When asked by the French NATO delegation, Simmons said France
was not singled out in exchanges with the Qatari delegation.
Simmons said that he had explained to the Qataris that such
an assertion could prompt sending NATO nations to withdraw
their personnel from the liaison group and could impact
negatively on the prospects for further NATO-Qatari partner
cooperation within the context of the Istanbul Cooperation
Initiative (ICI). In an aside, he also said that several
Qatari officials approached him earlier in the week on the
margins of the EAPC Trust Fund meeting in Washington, D.C. to
repeat Qatar's interest in hosting the possible NATO Security
Cooperation Center for the region. He reminded the Qataris
today that their assertion of jurisdiction may impact
negatively on Allied attitudes towards that offer as well.
4.(C) The UK, in reaction to Simmons' report, said that it
would withdraw its personnel from the liaison group promptly
on a voluntary basis. The Canadians said that they
anticipated an instruction from Ottawa to withdraw their one
officer from the liaison group, although a second Canadian
currently in an exchange program with the U.S. - and
accredited to the OEF/OIF portion of the CAOC - likely would
stay at al-Udeid under their DCA. The Netherlands said that
they currently do not have an officer in Qatar as these
issues arose during their rotation of personnel and they
currently are awaiting a visa for the otherwise designated
incoming officer. The NATO International Military Staff
(IMS) said that, in anticipation of the possible withdrawal
by sending states of their personnel, NATO was preparing the
option to shift liaison functions rapidly to a remote link to
the CAOC from Afghanistan so as to prevent a wide disruption
in air support to ISAF operations.
5.(C) Request for Guidance - USNATO needs to inform NATO
tomorrow OOB whether the U.S. intends to pull our personnel
out from the ISAF liaison group, a step we believe is
warranted. We also request permission to urge Simmons to
advise Qatar that this will have a chilling effect on
NATO-Qatar political relations. Per ref. D, Department also
may wish to instruct Embassy Doha to approach the GoQ with a
similar message.
NULAND