Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ISLAMABAD1384
2008-04-01 09:14:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Islamabad
Cable title:
FATA IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE FOR 03/28/08
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UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 001384
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID MASS PK
SUBJECT: FATA IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE FOR 03/28/08
REF: ISLAMABAD 1181
UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 001384
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID MASS PK
SUBJECT: FATA IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE FOR 03/28/08
REF: ISLAMABAD 1181
1. (U) Below is a summary of US Mission Islamabad's
activities in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA) along its northwest border with Afghanistan during the
past two weeks up to March 28, 2008.
ODRP FATA Activities
--------------
2. (SBU) CCMR Contact Group:
The first Civil-Military Contact Group Program, carried out
under the auspices of the Center for Civil-Military Relations
(CCMR) of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey,
California, took place in Peshawar on March 19 - 20.
Participants were a mix of Pakistani military personnel and
civilian bureaucrats, the latter drawn from the FATA
Secretariat with the help of USAID capacity-building
SIPDIS
contractors to ensure a lively discussion. As one senior ODRP
observer commented, the exercise was a case study in the need
for the military to engage with the civilian bureaucracy in
decision making. CCMR plans a second session with the same
participants in Peshawar in May, and a third one in Monterey
and Washington, DC, in July. ODRP rates the first program
highly successful.
3. (SBU) SOCOM confirms work with Frontier Corps:
USSOCOM Commander Adm. Olson, during a visit to Warsak,
outside Peshawar, confirmed the value of a sustained train
and equip effort of the civil armed forces as a necessity for
a long-term stability in the FATA.
4. (U) BCC Torkham Opens!
Ribbon cutting is set for March 29 for the Border
Coordination Center at Torkham. BCCs represent a forum and a
venue for the generation of coordinated action based on a
common operating picture of Afghan, Pakistani, and ISAF
elements.
USAID FATA Activities
--------------
5. (U) USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives' (OTI) has
halted its work in Kurram Agency because of security threats
and has stopped in Orakzai since March 25 when fighting broke
out between tribes. In Kurram, serious fighting between
Sunnis and Shias killed five in a mid-day attack on an
ambulance in Kurram on March 27. Kurram and Orakzai have
long histories of sectarian fighting.
6. (U) OTI reports a far more positive development at Ekka
Ghond Market in Mohmand Agency. On March 25, in a sign that
OTI's efforts for open bidding practices on its projects are
taking hold, there was a meeting to open bids for the
market's sanitation system. The Project Oversight Committee
(POC, made up of the Tehsildar, OTI staff, community members
and the Assistant Political Agent) met with local contractors
to review the contractors' bids. After opening the bids, it
was clear the contractors had given inflated prices. The POC
demanded the contractors return with more reasonable prices
that reflected market rates. Even the Assistant Political
Agent was visibly irritated at the contractors. This is an
example of how the POC serves as an oversight mechanism in
the project. It also demonstrates a new way of conducting
transparent and accountable bidding that can serve as a model
for the future.
7. (U) To see the in-depth results of an OTI-commissioned
survey of perceptions of residents of several agencies within
FATA, go to www.understandingfata.org.
BODDE
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID MASS PK
SUBJECT: FATA IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE FOR 03/28/08
REF: ISLAMABAD 1181
1. (U) Below is a summary of US Mission Islamabad's
activities in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA) along its northwest border with Afghanistan during the
past two weeks up to March 28, 2008.
ODRP FATA Activities
--------------
2. (SBU) CCMR Contact Group:
The first Civil-Military Contact Group Program, carried out
under the auspices of the Center for Civil-Military Relations
(CCMR) of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey,
California, took place in Peshawar on March 19 - 20.
Participants were a mix of Pakistani military personnel and
civilian bureaucrats, the latter drawn from the FATA
Secretariat with the help of USAID capacity-building
SIPDIS
contractors to ensure a lively discussion. As one senior ODRP
observer commented, the exercise was a case study in the need
for the military to engage with the civilian bureaucracy in
decision making. CCMR plans a second session with the same
participants in Peshawar in May, and a third one in Monterey
and Washington, DC, in July. ODRP rates the first program
highly successful.
3. (SBU) SOCOM confirms work with Frontier Corps:
USSOCOM Commander Adm. Olson, during a visit to Warsak,
outside Peshawar, confirmed the value of a sustained train
and equip effort of the civil armed forces as a necessity for
a long-term stability in the FATA.
4. (U) BCC Torkham Opens!
Ribbon cutting is set for March 29 for the Border
Coordination Center at Torkham. BCCs represent a forum and a
venue for the generation of coordinated action based on a
common operating picture of Afghan, Pakistani, and ISAF
elements.
USAID FATA Activities
--------------
5. (U) USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives' (OTI) has
halted its work in Kurram Agency because of security threats
and has stopped in Orakzai since March 25 when fighting broke
out between tribes. In Kurram, serious fighting between
Sunnis and Shias killed five in a mid-day attack on an
ambulance in Kurram on March 27. Kurram and Orakzai have
long histories of sectarian fighting.
6. (U) OTI reports a far more positive development at Ekka
Ghond Market in Mohmand Agency. On March 25, in a sign that
OTI's efforts for open bidding practices on its projects are
taking hold, there was a meeting to open bids for the
market's sanitation system. The Project Oversight Committee
(POC, made up of the Tehsildar, OTI staff, community members
and the Assistant Political Agent) met with local contractors
to review the contractors' bids. After opening the bids, it
was clear the contractors had given inflated prices. The POC
demanded the contractors return with more reasonable prices
that reflected market rates. Even the Assistant Political
Agent was visibly irritated at the contractors. This is an
example of how the POC serves as an oversight mechanism in
the project. It also demonstrates a new way of conducting
transparent and accountable bidding that can serve as a model
for the future.
7. (U) To see the in-depth results of an OTI-commissioned
survey of perceptions of residents of several agencies within
FATA, go to www.understandingfata.org.
BODDE