CHAD/CAR: ITALY WILL CONTRIBUTE MILITARY HOSPITAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 000057 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2018 TAGS: EUN PREL PGOV CD IT SUBJECT: CHAD/CAR: ITALY WILL CONTRIBUTE MILITARY HOSPITAL TO ESDP MISSION REF: STATE 3208 Classified By: A/Pol M/C Jonathan R. Cohen, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) . ¶1. (C) Poloff delivered reftel non-paper to MFA West Africa Office Director Mario Sammartino (whose office's responsibilities extend as far east as Chad) January 11. Poloff emphasized USG support for an ESDP mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR),and requested information on Italy's intended contribution to the force. ¶2. (C) Sammartino said Italy agreed that the conflict in Darfur does not respect borders, and that instability from Darfur was spilling over into Chad and the CAR. In addition to its share of the mission's financial costs, Sammartino said Italy will contribute a military hospital. ¶3. (C) Sammartino said he thought some of the hesitation to contribute to the ESDP mission was due to lingering feelings in Europe that Chad was France's "responsibility," because of its colonial history. He also thought that financial constraints and other overseas deployments had limited some nations' abilities to contribute. SPOGLI