FATA IMPLEMENTATION PLAN UPDATE 2/22/08

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 000822 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/22/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID MASS SNAR PK SUBJECT: FATA IMPLEMENTATION PLAN UPDATE 2/22/08 Classified By: DCM PETER BODDE, reasons 1 (b),(d) ¶1. (U) This cable covers this week's developments in USG programs in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along its border with Afghanistan. ¶2. (C) FATA Briefings -------------- The Ambassador, the Deputy Chief of Mission, ODRP Chief, and the Deputy Director of USAID, Islamabad, presented a 45- minute briefing on USG FATA development programs to Pakistani President Pervaiz Musharraf February 21, which evolved into a two hour session with Musharraf asking detailed questions of our programs. The President was initially wary of some of our plans, but we were able to convince him of our approach. Musharraf raised concerns about the high cost of using international implementing partners but said he was grateful for the assistance and looked forward to seeing the results. President Musharraf agreed it was time for us to provide similar briefings to COAS Kayani, ISI and the intelligence service chiefs, the Governor of the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP),and 11th Corps Commander. ¶3. (U) Weekly USAID FATA program updates -------------- Health: The USAID Health Officer gave a detailed presentation on new and on-going various health programs in FATA. The presentation describes the enormous diversity of USAID's health programs in the region. It also demonstrates a point, vital to our overall mission in FATA, that all our programs are being carried out by Pakistanis, most of whom are working in their home regions. This is a major factor in ensuring the success of our programs in this area, which is traditionally sensitive to outsiders. Another sign of the unusual success of these programs is that they have started operating in the particularly strife-prone North Waziristan agency. (To see this excellent presentation go to http://Islamabad.state.gov; click on Agencies, click on USAID, and go to FATA Working Group). Relief for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs): USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives/FATA Transition Initiative (ODI/FTI),through the FATA Secretariat, is distributing non-food relief kits (blankets, stoves, utensils, water canisters and other non-food items) to an estimated 5,400 people in North Waziristan and Tank displaced due to conflict in South Waziristan. Election Day violence in Kurram Agency has postponed FTI's start up in that agency until a yet-to-be determined date. In Orakzai Agency, however, FTI continues to deliver the remainder of furniture for fifty schools, and in Mohmand agency, open competitive bidding has taken place successfully for FTI's programs. Implementation should begin in the coming weeks. ¶4. (SBU) NAS FATA program updates -------------- NAS continues deliveries of equipment to Frontier Corps Constabulary in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP). In this week following the general elections, NAS is delivering - 1750 bullet proof vest - 4 water bowzers (trucks) - 2 recovery vehicles - 2 workshops ¶5. (C) ODRP FATA program updates -------------- On Saturday, February 23, a Senior Leader Engagement meeting of US and Pakistani military officials will take place in Peshawar. Attending from the US side will be Maj.Gen. James Helmly, Chief, ODRP, US Embassy, Islamabad, and his staff; Maj. Gen. Rodriguez, Commanding General, CJTF-82, Afghanistan; and Principal Officer US Consulate Peshawar Ms. Lynn Tracy. Representing the Pakistanis will be 11th Corps Commander Masood Aslam, and the Inspector General of the Frontier Corps Khattack ISLAMABAD 00000822 002 OF 002 ¶6. (U) A View of Work in the FATA -------------- A small but critical FATA program is USAID's $2,400,000 polio eradication drive. In the past four years, local health officials have carried out 32 polio campaigns with USG assistance. In 2008, health officers have identified 2 cases of polio in FATA, an indicator that there are likely several hundred carrying the infection. Unlike in some Muslim parts of the world, there is no clerical objection to the polio campaign here. In fact, there has been a FATA Fatwa, calling for people to be immunized. The only hindrance health workers have found is that when mothers take their children to get the polio dosage, they sometimes balk when they find they are not being given the full panoply of other childhood immunizations. The word seems to be out: they are beginning to want the whole package. It is our job to get it to them. PATTERSON