DEMARCHE ON AFGHANISTAN CONTRIBUTIONS DELIVERED

C O N F I D E N T I A L DUSHANBE 000466 SIPDIS STATE DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/A REOTT, EUR/RPM COPE E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/15/2019 TAGS: PREL NATO MOPS MARR AF TI SUBJECT: DEMARCHE ON AFGHANISTAN CONTRIBUTIONS DELIVERED REF: 09 STATE 31102 CLASSIFIED BY: NECIA QUAST, DCM, EXE, DOS. REASON: 1.4 (a),(b),(d) ¶1. (C) On April 6, PolOff delivered reftel demarche to Husrav Noziri, the Head of the Americas and Europe Division of Tajikistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Noziri could not provide specific feedback on reftel requests, but he forwarded them to the individuals. It is unclear how and when the authorities will respond; the Government of Tajikistan continues to view Afghan-based narcotics trafficking and Islamic extremism as serious threats, but is reluctant to cooperate seriously with Afghanistan in any field. Nevertheless, there have been some developments. ¶2. (C) Bridge: The Tajiks have taken some steps toward facilitating increased use of the Nizhny Pyanj bridge, but they have still not devoted enough manpower to operate it around the clock. Authorities claim that traffic is up to 150 to 200 trucks a day crossing in either direction, but this is unverified and not consistent with Emboffs' observations during visits to the facilities. Even if true, it is also well below the 1,000 vehicle per day capacity. The inspection facilities on the Tajik end of the bridge are almost complete; the Government took legal possession of them last August, and recently connected them to the power grid. ¶3. (C) Border Training Initiatives: It remains unclear when the OSCE-sponsored Border Management Staff College will begin operations. Training is expected to start at the U.S.-sponsored border guard training facility in Khorog in June 2009 at the earliest. ¶4. (C) Agriculture and Water Experts: We know of no ongoing efforts to provide agriculture or water experts in coordination with the Afghan government. Nosiri told poloff on April 13 that the Government of Tajikistan had this request under consideration. JACOBSON