Canadian review almost complete of MOU for Support to U.S.

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 000005 SENSITIVE NOFORN SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/A, S/SRAP, AND WHA/CA AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PASS TO AMCONSUL QUEBEC E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/07 TAGS: PREL MOPS NATO MARR AF CA SUBJECT: Canadian review almost complete of MOU for Support to U.S. Civilians in Afghanistan REF: 09 STATE 129187; 09 OTTAWA 889 CLASSIFIED BY: Scott Bellard, Political Minister Counselor, Department of State, Political Section; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C/NF) On January 7, Jamie Pennell of the Bilateral Relations and Operations Division of the Afghanistan Task Force within the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) provided an update on the status of the draft MOU for life support and security to U.S. civilians operating from the Canadian PRT in Kandahar. Pennell apologized for the delay in responding to the draft text (reftels),explaining that there had initially been a considerable delay in transmission from the Canadian Embassy in Kabul. Subsequently, Canadian officials in Kandahar and at DFAIT had been focused on ensuring care for a DFAIT officer seriously wounded in the December 30 IED strike, which also killed four Canadian soldiers and one Canadian reporter. ¶2. (C/NF) Pennell promised that the Canadian response should be ready during the week of January 11. Pennell noted that one of the remaining legal questions is whether the MOU should be between the U.S. and Canadian Embassies in Kabul, as currently formulated, or between the U.S. and Canadian governments, while acknowledging the desirability of retaining the greatest possible flexibility and leaving the implementation of the agreement to respective Canadian and U.S. leadership in the field. He expressed the hope that we could avoid making the agreement overly legalistic, given that it is designed as a non-binding understanding. Pennell commented that it was important to "get this right," because Canada may find itself in the "reverse position" (with U.S. or other ISAF troops likely providing security for Canadian civilians at the PRT) after ¶2011. (Septel will report on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's reiteration on January 6 that Canadian troops will indeed depart Afghanistan by the end of 2011 and that Canada's mission thereafter will be purely civilian.). JACOBSON