UN PEACEKEEPING -- GOI AGREES TO SEND MORE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000593 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, DRL, IO, NEA SECDEF FOR USDP/ISA/AP - P. IPSEN JOINT STAFF FOR CLEMMONS NSC FOR E. PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/25/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO ID LE SU SUBJECT: UN PEACEKEEPING -- GOI AGREES TO SEND MORE PERSONNEL TO LEBANON REF: A. JAKARTA 0146 ¶B. 07 JAKARTA 3267 ¶C. 07 JAKARRTA 2798 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The GOI has agreed to send 90 additional military personnel to Lebanon to augment the 850 personnel already serving there as UN peacekeepers. The decision is in response to requests by the Lebanese government and the UNIFIL command in Lebanon. Re another planned deployment, there have been some problems with the Sudanese government regarding visa issuance, but the GOI hopes that the first tranche of police to support UNAMID can arrive in Darfur in early April. The planned deployment to Lebanon underscores Indonesia's continued commitment to international peacekeeping. END SUMMARY. SENDING MORE TROOPS ¶2. (C) The GOI has committed itself to sending more peacekeepers to Lebanon. Indonesian government contacts confirm that--during the recent OIC Summit in Dakar--Lebanese representatives asked Indonesian President Yudhoyono to send additional personnel to augment the 850 Indonesian military personnel already serving in Lebanon under the command of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Yudhoyono agreed and ordered the Army Chief of Staff to begin preparations for the additional deployment. ¶3. (U) (Note: The GOI approved the deployment of peacekeepers to Lebanon shortly after the cease-fire was greed to in 2006. The GOI has provided peacekeepers to UNIFIL since late 2006. The current force arrived in November 2007 and will serve a one-year tour of duty before it rotates out and is replaced--as is expected--by another Indonesian contingent.) WORKING OUT THE DETAILS ¶4. (C) Indonesia is working on the details of the planned deployment. POLOFF spoke with Fikry Cassidy, Deputy Director of International Security and Disarmament at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DEPLU),on March 24. Cassidy confirmed that the GOI is in touch with the UN Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) command in New York. The 90 additional Indonesian military personnel would replace a group of Qatari peacekeepers who recently departed Lebanon. According to Cassidy, the 90 military police will be deployed throughout Lebanon and will perform basic police duties, including checkpoint and traffic control, and other duties. The Indonesian military police will not necessarily be stationed with the main Indonesian UNIFIL troops but will augment UN forces where needed, he added. TRYING TO GET TO DARFUR ¶5. (C) The GOI is also preparing to send about 150 civilian police officers to the Darfur region of Sudan to assist with UN peacekeeping operations (UNAMID) there (ref A). GOI contacts report that everything seems to be in place, but there have been some problems regarding visa issuance by the Sudanese government. The GOI hopes that these problems are ironed out soon so that the first tranche of police can depart for Darfur in early April. A STRONG COMMITMENT ¶6. (SBU) The planned deployment to Lebanon underscores the GOI's continued commitment to international peacekeeping. JAKARTA 00000593 002 OF 002 Indonesia likes to be seen as a good world citizen and peacekeeping is a concrete way to express that. Based on what we have heard, Indonesian forces in Lebanon have been effective in their mission, earning positive reviews from the government and citizens alike. HUME