TONGA REQUIREMENTS FOR IRAQ DEPLOYMENT -- PM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SUVA 000020

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR PM, NEA, CA, AND EAP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2018
TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS CVIS IZ TN
SUBJECT: TONGA REQUIREMENTS FOR IRAQ DEPLOYMENT -- PM
SEVELE SEES BRIGHT FUTURE, ONCE "VISA" ISSUE IS RESOLVED

REF: A. SUVA 018


B. STATE 4865

C. 07 SUVA 452

D. 07 SUVA 442

E. 07 SUVA 435

Classified By: Amb. Dinger. Sec. 1.4 (B,D).

Tonga visa issue is priority one
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1. (C) Tonga Prime Minister Sevele visited Embassy Suva on
Jan. 25 on his way back to Tonga from a visit to Honolulu
(see ref A). As requested Ref B, we followed up on his PACOM
discussions regarding the possibility of further Tonga
Defense Service (TDS) deployments to Iraq. Sevele made clear
the "Tonga visa" issue remains a major impediment to future
TDS deployments. (See refs A, C, D, and E). He reiterated
that some Tongans are expressing concern about why TDS troops
are putting their lives on the line in MNFI when the U.S. is
not prepared to provide visa services on the ground in Tonga.
Ambassador Dinger provided an update and noted issues at
play in Washington.

After visa solution, deployment issues are easy
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2. (C) Ambassador Dinger asked Sevele to set the visa issue
aside for the moment and to comment on what legal mechanisms
the Tonga Government would need in order to continue
contributing to MNFI after the UN Resolutions end. Per Ref
B, we noted the possibility of a U.S.-Iraq Defense
Cooperation Agreement (DCA) that could fold in third-nation
contributors. Sevele said Tonga would have to see the text,
but his instinct is that his Government would be comfortable
continuing deployments under such an umbrella after the
current UN umbrella ends. Tonga would not want to have to
negotiate a separate bilateral agreement with Iraq or go
without a formal arrangement. He said the issue of just what
Tonga would need to do to approve a DCA arrangement and how
long that could take can not be answered until the Tonga
Government sees the actual DCA. Sevele's guess, sight
unseen, is that such an agreement might not require
parliamentary approval, so the process might be simple and
short. All that said, Sevele reiterated his introductory
point: in his view the visa issue needs addressing
productively before the U.S. and Tonga move on to discuss
further deployments and mechanisms for same.

Wharf-reconstruction project as a sweetener
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3. (C) Sevele mentioned his suggestion in Honolulu that PACOM
might illustrate USG appreciation for the current TDS
deployments by assisting the Tonga Government to reconstruct
the wharf in Nuku'alofa. He reported that PACOM and others
took on the idea with interest, and he said he had invited
U.S. military engineers to visit Nuku'alofa to get a
first-hand perspective on such a project. While Sevele said
he sees such a project as a way the USG can show tangible
thanks to the Tongan public for deployments, he made clear he
does not see such a project as a substitute for the visa
resolution that remains at the top of his agenda.
DINGER