FATA IMPLEMENTATION PLAN AS OF MAY 16, 2008

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 001931



SENSITIVE

SIPDIS



E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: PGOV, PREL, EAID, MASS, SNAR, PK

SUBJ: FATA IMPLEMENTATION PLAN AS OF MAY 16, 2008



REF: ISLAMABAD 1786



1. (U) Following is a summary of U.S. Mission Islamabad's

activities in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)

along its northwest border with Afghanistan as of May 16, 2008.



Peshawar Update

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2. (SBU) FATA Transition Initiative (FTI) teams met with North

Waziristan officials to develop project ideas. Another FTI team has

returned from Frontier Region (FR) Dera Ismail (D.I.) Khan where

they were developing projects and establishing an office for FR D.I.

Khan. The team also spoke with South Waziristan government

officials and tribal elders about what actions could serve as

effective peace dividends as part of the negotiations process and

which activities FTI could support. The team has noted that

activities could be piloted in North Waziristan, but South

Waziristan is not as easy. Instead, the team will first have to

work with people from South Waziristan who are currently in FR D.I.

Khan and FR Tank in order to create relationships. Then programming

can be developed based on those relationships.



3. (SBU) In Kurram Agency, teams working on a survey of public

perceptions of the Government of Pakistan are compiling data, albeit

slowly. The situation in Kurram Agency remains dangerous and the

team has reported attacks along key roads. Local enmities have

crossed agency borders, and opponents are settling scores outside

the Agency in settled areas. All the tribesmen are anxiously

awaiting results of the ongoing peace Jirga in Peshawar, since the

violence also makes it difficult for locals to obtain food. The

perceptions survey data compilation for Mohmand and Khyber Agencies

has been completed. The report is expected to be distributed in the

coming week.



Security Situation

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4. (SBU) FTI's Mohmand Agency staff was unable to enter the Agency

in the past week due to Taliban presence around the government

colony of Galanai. Taliban presence has been steadily increasing

and moving southeast in Mohmand Agency. Additionally, the Orakzai

team is reporting a presence of Taliban in the area (Orakzai

traditionally has not had a Taliban presence). A leaflet was found

at the gate of a government-funded girls' school in Jamrud, Khyber

Agency, that FTI is rehabilitating. The leaflet states that female

students cannot attend school or else they will face dire

consequences. Neither FTI staff nor the contractor report any

direct threat to themselves. An abducted contractor working on an

FTI grant in Malang Gharai, Orakzai Agency, was released by his

abductors this week. He met with FTI staff and informed them that

he will try his best to complete his activities as soon as possible.

There is no indication that his abduction was a result of working

for FTI.



ODRP Activities

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5. (SBU) A U.S. military communications survey team is visiting four

Frontier Corps (FC) sites designated to be "Sector Headquarters" in

North West Frontier Province (NWFP) for a planned communications

network. Each "Sector" will eventually coordinate the deployment

and operation of approximately 12,000 Frontier Corps soldiers

throughout the FATA. The survey will result in a communications

architecture for purchase and installation which will facilitate

communication between the most remote border posts, through

intermediate headquarters, to the Inspector General Frontier Corps

in Peshawar. USCENTCOM's Command Surgeon and a civil affairs

planner will interface with the FC-NWFP to respond to their request

for a clinic in Mirzai (15 Miles west of Tank) from which they wish

to conduct medical assistance visits into South Waziristan.



Helping Students

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6. (SB) On May 11, militants destroyed the electric pylon outside of

Peshawar on the road to Kohat, severely reducing the supply of

electricity into Peshawar from twenty to four hours of supply per

24-hour period. Students from local universities and colleges began

protesting the lack of power because it hinders studying for final

exams set to begin next week. FTI cleared and began implementation

of a grant to provide generators at key campus buildings hosting the



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examinations and 70 hostels boarding students from the FATA.

Approximately 20,000 students will benefit from this grant. The

activity was highlighted in local Urdu and English press.



PATTERSON