FATA IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE FOR 04/11/08

1. (U) Below is a summary of U.S. Mission Islamabad's
activities in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA) along its northwest border with Afghanistan during the
past week up to April 11, 2008.

Peshawar Update


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2. (U) Javed Iqbal, former Additional Chief Secretary for the
FATA Secretariat, has been named as Additional Chief
Secretary for the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Civil

SIPDIS
Secretariat. This is a positive development, as Iqbal can

SIPDIS
bring his experience to bear in the region.

3. (SBU) The FATA Secretariat has completed a draft proposal
for a steering committee, which will serve as a coordinating
body for Pakistani government agencies, donors, and
assistance implementers. The proposal includes seats on the
committee for security forces and the donor community.

ROZ Implementation Update


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4. (U) Deputy Econ Counselor met with the Ministry of
Commerce (MoC) to discuss GOP coordination plans for
Reconstruction Opportunity Zone (ROZ) implementation
(septel). The GOP plans to provide incentives similar to its
Economic Processing Zones, and has identified possible ROZ
sites. The GOP ROZ working group has already engaged with the
new Prime Minister to brief on the ROZ initiative.

ODRP Activities


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5. (U) Command of the U.S. training mission for the Frontier
Corps has been fully transferred from Army Central Command
(ARCENT) to Special Operations Command CENTCOM (SOCCENT).

6. (U) Construction of Warsak training center began 4 April
and is expected to be completed by the end of September.
Training was scheduled to start in late June. The 24 U.S.
trainers and 6 U.K. trainers are willing to start training
while living under field conditions since facilities will not
be ready, however Frontier Corps officials are concerned
about force protection for trainers and asked to delay until
positive control measures over construction crews can be
implemented and evaluated. Training will be delayed only by
30 days in order to preserve the momentum of this GWOT
program; the new expected start date is in mid-July, by which
time the Frontier Corps at Warsak should have smoothed any
logistical issues that may have been caused by the extra
manpower onsite for construction.

7. (U) The first Civil-Military Contact Group Program
(carried out under the auspices of the Center for
Civil-Military Relations of the Naval Postgraduate School in
Monterey, California) was completed last month. Preparations
will begin next week for the second phase of meetings, which
are expected to take place in Peshawar in May. The civil side
is already campaigning to make the next phase less academic
and more pragmatic to produce an operational interface
between the Army's 11th Corps and the NWFP Governor's FATA
Secretariat.

SIPDIS

8. (C) The first element of the Military Information Support
Team (MIST) is expected to arrive by the end of April. Its
first task will be to work with USAID contractors to improve
the informational content and expand the FATA Secretariat's
broadcasting capabilities.

NAS Activities


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9. (U) NAS road construction is proceeding at a solid pace in
Kurram agency. The 11th Corps agreed to transfer $4 million
slated for road construction in North and South Waziristan to
a bridge on the Kabul River. NAS will begin drafting a
memorandum of understanding for this bridge. The project is
scheduled to begin in the fall.

10. (U) NAS is conducting its annual aerial poppy survey;

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eradication efforts are complicated as law enforcement
agencies complain that they do not have adequate resources to
dedicate to this activity given other pressing issues.
PATTERSON