NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT APRIL 25, 2007

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 USNATO 000270

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2017
TAGS: NATO PREL PTER AF
SUBJECT: NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT APRIL 25, 2007

Classified By: DCM Richard G. Olson for reasons 1.4 (B) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY:

-- Afghanistan: NAC discussed &whither a NATO common hostage
policy?8 and alleged Afghan mistreatment of detainees.
Chairman of the Military Committee (CMC) updated the NAC on
NATO training support to the ANA and his recent trip to
Pakistan. D/SYG urged the NAC to find a way ahead on draft
NATO-Pakistan transit agreement prior to the SYG,s May trip
to Islamabad. Counternarcotics messaging in southern
Afghanistan debated.

-- Kosovo: UNSC representatives met with SYG in Brussels;
KFOR prepared to support UNSC visit.

-- Darfur: D/SYG noted Sudanese acceptance of AU/UN &Heavy
Support Package.8

-- Iraq: Spring Periodic Mission Review passes silence.
SHAPE report on gendarmerie training due May 15.

END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Afghanistan: Ambassador Nuland told the NAC that
Secretary Rice would likely raise NATO,s efforts to find a

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common hostage policy during the Oslo ministerial April 26,
based on the non-paper that the Ambassador circulated to
Allies last week. France laid down a strong marker and
advocated killing further discussion at NATO, noting it was
&( not persuaded it added value on this complex issue.8
Further, &given the circumstances8 at present, France
urged, supported by Spain, that the issue not be mentioned at
all at Oslo. Italy, the UK, Canada, Czech Republic,
Bulgaria, and Poland all voiced strong support for a
continuing discussion at NATO. D/SYG Minuto-Rizzo, chairing,
said the SYG would discuss it at a PermReps coffee on May 3.
Ambassador Nuland told the French Ambassador that the
Secretary would not ask for action at Oslo and would be

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appropriately discreet publicly, but the issue needed to be
discussed among Ministers French delegation told us that
with deadline fr execution of hostages in Afghanistan due to
exire during Oslo, any public action by NATO might cuse
French public opinion to blame the deaths on ATO.


3. (C) Canadian Ambassador Juneau stated hat FM MacKay
would raise in Oslo recent press accounts of mistreatment of
Afghan detainees by the Afghan government, and that Canada
has called on the GOA to investigate allegations. Canada
believes that NATO Ambassadors in Kabul should discuss the
issue; Italy, Norway, and the Netherlands supported. The
D/SYG informed that SCR Everts had met with the Afghan Deputy
Justice Minister in Kabul, who pledged an investigation.
Ambassador Nuland urged that the Canadians endeavor to handle
the issue as sensitively as possible, and asked how the U.S.
and ISAF could help address concerns in Kabul. The Canadian
Ambassador noted the Canadian press would certainly ask FM
MacKay about it following discussions in Oslo, so he had to
raise the issue, but would do so appropriately.


4. (C) CMC Henault told Council that military advice on
potential long-term involvement of NATO in training the ANA
would be passed to the Military Committee for initial
consideration by the end of the month. He expressed
disappointment that NATO Allies had not yet offered to fill
short-term training objectives that the NAC agreed in
February 2007, such as OMLTs, filling billets in CSTC-A, and
counter-IED capabilities. CMC briefed on his trip to
Pakistan, which followed immediately on the heels of his trip
to Afghanistan with the NAC April 16-18. In Islamabad, he
met with the Pakistani Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,

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General Ul Haq, who welcomed the &maturation8 of the
NATO-Pakistan relationship. In meetings, the Pakistani side
bemoaned a perceived lack of understanding by the West of
Pakistan,s security challenges, and the efforts it is making
on the border with Afghanistan. Pakistan is interested in
developing educational opportunities with NATO, such as the
NATO Defense College, and military leaders view negotiations
with NATO for a transit agreement and ISAF liaison
arrangements in Islamabad to be separate issues. Pakistan
intends to open a liaison office with NATO, either at SHAPE
or NATO HQ, to be determined. CMC also met with 12 NATO
Ambassadors while in Islamabad.


5. (C) D/SYG Minuto-Rizzo reminded the NAC that SYG de Hoop
Scheffer would travel to Islamabad May 7-8, and asked that
nations be as flexible as possible as the Political Committee
debates NATO,s response to the terms of a draft transit
agreement that NATO recently received from Pakistan. The
D/SYG hinted that the establishment of a liaison office in
Islamabad, plus a transit agreement would be strong
deliverables from the first-ever trip by a NATO SYG to
Pakistan. The UK pushed back, noting it would support
liaison arrangements (the Pakistanis appear to agree with
granting full diplomatic privileges and immunities to NATO
liaison staff),but that serious national equities are at
stake in the draft transit agreement, such as the Pakistani
position on jurisdiction, and notification times demanded by
ISAF prior to shipment.


6. (C) Finally, Ambassador Nuland noted a disturbing BBC
piece that reported NATO forces in RC-South had placed radio
spots stating that neither NATO nor the ANA would engage in
eradication. She stated that it was our job to support the
Afghan government on counternarcotics, and NATO should not
send messages that undermine the GoA. The UK Ambassador
acknowledged that &something went wrong8 and that the UK
was looking into it, but noted that one could not ignore the
security implications of eradication. The Netherlands and
Italy asked to see the exact wording of the radio spots.


7. (C) Kosovo: The D/SYG updated the Council on last
week,s meeting of the Contact Group in Moscow and the U.N.
Security Council,s upcoming trip to Serbia and Kosovo. He
said that the representatives from the UNSC would meet April
25 with the NATO SYG and with European Union officials. CMC
updated the NAC on KFOR,s enhanced security operations to
prevent disruption of the UNSC visit and to deter violence.
KFOR will support UNMIK and ensure that Serbs doQot cross
Kosovo,s administrative boundary from Serbia during the UNSC
visit to Pristina. CMC noted that the German operational
reserve battalion will conclude its current operations in
Kosovo on April 30 and return to Germany the following week.
He added that the Italians will deploy their operational
reserve battalion to Kosovo in June, following a command and
staff exercise conducted by the reserve components in the
region in May.


8. (SBU) Darfur: The D/SYG said the Sudanese government has
accepted the &Heavy Support Package,8 which should increase
the effectiveness of AMIS. He encouraged forward progress on
the AU/UN &hybrid8 force. The D/SYG noted AMIS,s mandate
is up for renewal in June; should this be extended, the AU
may request additional support from NATO. CMC said the
Darfur Integrated Task force had sent a note verbale
requesting flight clearance to support the rotation of
Rwandan troops, which is scheduled to begin May 3. The
German PermRep reported that EU Foreign Ministers at their
April 23 meeting (GAERC) had discussed the situation in
Sudan, agreeing that the AU/UN &hybrid8 force is urgently
needed and that the EU would consider steps against Sudan if
this mission is impeded.

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9. (SBU) Iraq: D/SYG reported that the NTM-I Spring 2007 PMR
had passed silence and would come to the NAC for approval
following consultations with Ukraine. He also reported that
SHAPE is assessing the personnel needs at NTM-I and that
future work on preparing the gendarmerie training mission is
continuing. The gendarmerie training report should come up
from SHAPE, as expected, by 15 May.


NULAND