BOSNIA- IRAQ EOD UNIT MANDATE EXTENDED; EXPANDED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SARAJEVO 000112 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR (DICARLO),EUR/SCE (HOH, SILBERSTEIN, FOOKS, STINCHCOMB),EUR/RPM, AND NEA; DEFENSE FOR FATA, CAGAN, AND BEIN; NSC FOR BRAUN; USNIC FOR WIGHTMAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/17/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ BK SUBJECT: BOSNIA- IRAQ EOD UNIT MANDATE EXTENDED; EXPANDED DEPLOYMENT APPROVED IN PRINCIPLE REF: A. SARAJEVO 2142 ¶B. ENGLAND-CIKOTIC LETTER ¶C. MNFI-CIKOTIC LETTER Classified By: CDA Judith Cefkin for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) The Presidency voted January 17 to extend the mandate of Bosnia's Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit in Iraq through the end of 2008. The EOD extension is pending parliamentary confirmation by both the House of Representatives and House of Peoples. Following up on a USG request first made during the September 2007 visit of DASD Cagan to Sarajevo (reftels),the Presidency also voted to approve, in principle, the deployment of an infantry contingent (either an augmented platoon or a company) for fixed site security duties in Iraq. The Presidency instructed Defense Minister Selmo Cikotic to travel to Baghdad January 28-30 to meet with MNF-I officials and discuss the size of the unit to be deployed and its location. Cikotic will then brief the Presidency on the full parameters of the mission, and a second Presidency vote will be held to authorize the exact size and scope of the mission. The Presidency also gave a green light to the Ministry of Defense proposal to deploy 5-10 staff officers to ISAF in Afghanistan and 10 observers to UNAMID in Darfur. In a press conference following the Presidency session, President Radmanovic said that all the decisions on deployments showed that the Bosnian leadership understands Bosnia's global security responsibilities as it moves closer to NATO. COMMENT: BOSNIA COMMITS TO EXPAND DEPLOYMENT -------------- ¶2. (C) We are pleased that Bosnia will continue its EOD mission, and has made a serious commitment to expand the Bosnian presence in Iraq. In the past several months, we have engaged in substantial behind-the-scenes diplomacy with the Presidency and MOD stressing the importance of Bosnia's expanded Iraq deployment, and brokering the necessary level of political support to see its realization. President Komsic, Defense Minister Cikotic, and advisors to Presidents Silajdzic and Radmanovic tell us that the Presidency fully supports the mission and will authorize the deployment after Minister Cikotic delivers his report upon his return from Iraq. The Minister's visit to Iraq presents an opportunity for MNF-I officials to encourage Bosnia to deploy as large a force as possible, ideally a full company, but it will be critical that a positive decision be followed by fulfillment of the USG commitment to train and equip this new unit through coalition funding. End Comment. CEFKIN