GERMANY PLANS NO INDIVIDUAL COMPENSATION PAYMENTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 000068 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/17/2020 TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS NATO GM SUBJECT: GERMANY PLANS NO INDIVIDUAL COMPENSATION PAYMENTS TO FAMILIES OF KUNDUZ AIR STRIKE VICTIMS Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER COUNSELOR GEORGE GLASS. REASONS: 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) MOD and Chancellery officials have assured us that Germany will be very prudent and follow established precedents in addressing demands for compensation by the families of civilians allegedly killed in a September 4 air strike ordered by the German PRT Kunduz commander against two hijacked fuel tankers. They reject press stories that insinuate that in carrying out Defense Minister zu Guttenberg's promise for an "unbureaucratic" approach to compensation, Germany may be willing to pay tens of thousands of Euros directly to families of alleged victims. ¶2. (C) Both MOD Joint Commitments Staff Afghanistan Group Leader COL Harald Gante and Chancellery Military Affairs Officer LTC Martin Krueger told us January 13-14 that Germany, in fact, will pay no cash compensation directly to the families of alleged victims, noting that such individual payments have already been made by the Afghan government. Instead, the German government is looking at providing immediate "winter assistance" to help the people in the affected area (i.e., the Char Dara District of Kunduz Province) with needed food, clothing, etc. Krueger said the budget for this winter assistance would be about 150,000 Euros. ¶3. (C) Both Krueger and Gante said that Germany, in close consultation with the local elders, would also look at doing a number of development projects in the district to benefit the local population, including building schools, medical facilities, etc. Gante noted that Karim Popal, a Bremen-based Afghan-German lawyer representing many of the relatives of the alleged victims, was part of a German MOD delegation that recently went to Afghanistan to examine what might be done in this regard. MURPHY