REQUEST FOR SECURITY SUPPORT FOR AFGHANISTAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 001929 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/WE, EUR/RPM AND NEA/A E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/18/2018 TAGS: NATO PREL MOPS MARR AF BE SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR SECURITY SUPPORT FOR AFGHANISTAN DELIVERED REF: STATE 131480 Classified By: Political-Economic Counselor Richard Eason, reason 1.4(b ) and (d). ¶1. On December 17, Poloff delivered reftel demarche and non-paper seeking security support for 2009 Afghan elections to Vincent Mertens de Vilmars, Head of the Diplomatic Department at the Ministry of Defense and to Alain Hanssen, Deputy Director of the South Asia Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ¶2. On December 18, Poloff talked to Mertens de Vilmars, who said that given how stretched the resources of the MOD are at the present time, it would be difficult to provide more for Afghanistan elections. However, he suggested that perhaps troops that are now in Lebanon could participate. For example, he said, the Belgian F-16's could provide air cover if needed for particular purposes. .