UPDATE ON DARFUR PEACEKEEPING DEPLOYMENT NOVEMBER

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000951 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL AF SU UNC KPKO UN SUBJECT: UPDATE ON DARFUR PEACEKEEPING DEPLOYMENT NOVEMBER 1ST 2007 REF: A. USUN 894 ¶B. USUN 920 ¶C. OUAGADOUGOU 920 Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Darfur deployment update: --AMIS Force Commander has yet to request in writing that contracted US military advisors continue in their current positions; --The first of the High Ranking Operational & Technical Advisory Team (HROTAT) visits began this week with UN personnel traveling to Senegal, Mauritania and Gambia; --There are still no TCCs for the helicopters and transportation units required for UNAMID; --The Heavy Support Package (HSP) force protection battalions from Rwanda and Nigeria completed deployment on 31 October; --Continuation of the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contract with reimbursement from the UN was discussed via a conference call between AF A/S Jendayi Frazer, UN Department of Field Services (DFS) acting Under Secretary General Jane Holl-Lute and USUN Ambassador Jackie Wolcott. End Summary. ¶2. (C) US military advisors. To date, General Agwai, the AMIS force commander, has not made any request for the continued service of 16 contracted US MilObs performing advisory roles as would be required in order to register the requirement within the UN system. Once UNAMID officially takes control there is less flexibility relating to how they would be funded. ¶3. (C) Force generation. The first phase High Ranking Operational & Technical Advisory Team (HROTAT) began on 1 November with UN DPKO Acting Military Advisor Major General Five traveling to Senegal, Mauritania and Gambia. The second round of visits to Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi and Ethiopia is scheduled to begin on 12 November, followed by Mali, Ghana, Burkina Faso (Embassy Ouagadougou has highlighted potential problems with Burkina Faso,s deployment, see reftel C) and Cameroon from 26 November to 2 December. The mission of the HROTAT is to determine if these potential Troop Contributing Countries meet the equipment and sustainability requirements necessary for the UNAMID Mission. In the event that one or more of these countries do not meet the minimum requirements, the UN and the AU will have to go through the selection process for replacement TCC's again. ¶4. (C) There is still no TCC for either attack or utility helicopters, nor is there a TCC for the required transport units. UN demarches have been issued to potential contributors. Also there has been no confirmation from the GoS on AU/UN approved TCC's. This was a topic of the P5 meeting and the P5 meeting with the Secretary General this week, both requested by Ambassador Khalilzad. (septel) 5.(C) Deploying the Heavy Support Package/Deployment of two new battalions for AMIS. The deployment of the AMIS HSP force protection battalions from Rwanda and Nigeria was completed on October 31st, with 800 personnel and 18 APC's deployed. The commencement of the deployment of the Chinese Engineer Company for the HSP has been delayed. However it is expected that the advance party will complete their deployment on the scheduled date of November 17th. 6.(C) UN assumption of USG Operations & Maintenance Contracts. The current understanding from the USG perspective -- that the USG will continue the contract from 31 December until 31 March only with reimbursement arrangement from the UN-- has been communicated to the UN. There was a conference call between A/S Frazer , USG, Jane Holl-Lute for the Department of Field Services and Ambassador Wolcott on November 1st that reiterated that understanding. Khalilzad