ENGAGING SWEDEN TO CONCLUDE "LIFE SUPPORT" MOU IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L STOCKHOLM 000077 SIPDIS KABUL/USAID FOR ANN MARIE YASTISHOCK IPA FOR PATRICIA MCNERNEY MAZAR FOR DOUG CLIMAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2020 TAGS: MOPS MARR PREL EAID PHUM SNAR PINR PTER AF SW SUBJECT: ENGAGING SWEDEN TO CONCLUDE "LIFE SUPPORT" MOU IN AFGHANISTAN PRT REF: A. KABUL 437 ¶B. KABUL 376 ¶C. 2009 STOCKHOLM 796 Classified By: Political Counselor Marc Koehler for reasons 1.4 (b,d) 1.(C) On February 17, Poloffs handed over the revised draft of the U.S.-Sweden MOU on Life Support to Carl Magnus Eriksson, Deputy Director of the Security Policy Department at the MFA, General Lennart Bengtsson, Military Advisor to the MFA and a representative from the MOD's Security Policy. Eriksson stated that Sweden "welcomes" the MOU and the expanding USG civilian presence, and Sweden would like to "facilitate" the deployment of additional USG civilians. The MFA and MOD would review the amended MOU and would work on the "logistics" from "a practical point of view." Eriksson and Bengtsson expressed relief that the MOU had been amended in Sections V (E) and (F) with "self-drive" and "within the means and capabilities available" language regarding ground movements. When asked about the Armed Forces review of the document mentioned in our earlier meeting (Ref C),the MOD representative said a final analysis was pending, but reminded Poloffs of the limited Swedish military resources in the PRT. ¶2. (C) Eriksson said the Swedes have a schedule of enhancements at their three provincial offices in Sar-e Pul, Jowzjan and Samangan that will run into 2011. Sweden wants to see "enhanced capabilities in far-out regions" to be able to accommodate additional Swedish staff as well as USG civilians. GEN Bengtsson shared a timeline put together by the Armed Forces -- which MFA and MOD had not yet approved in final -- regarding Sweden's ability to accommodate USG personnel in the different provinces. The Armed Forces expects that 1-3 USAID officers could be accommodated in Camp Northern Light by April 1, in Shibirghan by June 1, in Aibak by December 31, and in Sar-e Pul by June 30, 2011. In a follow-up call, GEN Bengtsson remarked that facilities were so limited in some of the provincial offices, especially in Sar-e Pul, that current staff were already "hot bunking." ¶3. (U) Poloffs proposed a conference call among Stockholm, U.S. Embassy Kabul, and PRT Mazar. Eriksson readily agreed such would be useful after he had time to discuss the MOU with relevant offices. BARZUN