VZCZCXRO1812
OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHPS #0519 1671734
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 161734Z JUN 06
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6221
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0731
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHFMISS/AFSOUTH NAPLES IT
RHMFISS/CDR TF FALCON
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEPGEA/CDR650THMIGP SHAPE BE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUFOANA/USNIC PRISTINA SR

C O N F I D E N T I A L PRISTINA 000519 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE, AND EUR/SSA, NSC FOR BRAUN, 
USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/16/2016 
TAGS: MARR PREL PGOV UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: KFOR RE-ESTABLISHES PERMANENT PRESENCE 
NORTH OF THE IBAR RIVER 
 
Classified By: CDA KIRK MCBRIDE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  On June 13 the French contingent in charge 
of Multi-National Task Force-North (MNTF-N) reactivated a 
former Belgian KFOR camp in the northern Kosovo municipality 
of Leposavic.  The camp will be manned by different national 
contingents on two-week rotations, beginning with the French. 
 Responsibility for overall control and oversight for the 
base remains with the French, who are in charge of KFOR's 
northern sector, although each contingent will be responsible 
for sustaining its own TDY troops.  The French commander 
reported to COMKFOR local reluctance regarding the stationing 
of U.S. troops in the north.  The earliest U.S. troops from 
Camp Bondsteel could be stationed there is late-July.  KFOR 
has not yet given clear instructions about the mission of 
troops stationed at the re-opened base.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) In response to ongoing concerns about the removal of 
the last fixed KFOR point north of the Ibar River, KFOR has 
reopened a former Belgian base in the northern, Serb-majority 
municipality of Leposavic.  USKFOR's Deputy Commander for 
Civil Military Operations (DC-CMO) told USOP on June 15 that 
the French contingent in MNTF-N took possession of the camp 
on June 13.  USKFOR's Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) contractors 
completed work to reopen the camp using KFOR funding and it 
has been affectionately named "Nothing Hill," descriptive of 
the area's desolation.  It is located approximately 400 
meters off the main north-south highway through the northern 
municipalities connecting Kosovo with Serbia and is designed 
to house one company (roughly 100 soldiers) although it has 
capacity to accommodate an additional company, if ever 
needed.  It will be manned by different national KFOR 
constituent forces on two-week rotations.  According to Camp 
Bondsteel's DC-CMO, U.S. troops are scheduled there for two 
weeks in late July.  Responsibility for overall control and 
oversight will be in the hands of the French who are in 
charge of Kosovo,s northern sector, although each contingent 
will be responsible for sustaining its own TDY troops. 
 
¶3. (C) Regional UNCIVPOL Commander Gary Smith told E/P Chief 
and PolOff on June 15 that some local Serbs in Leposavic see 
the reopening of the camp as an employment opportunity, while 
northern leaders complain that the international community is 
trying to surround and control them.  According to USKFOR's 
DC-CMO, local Serbs complained when KBR brought ethnic 
Albanians in to re-open the camp.  She also said that the 
French commander of MNTF-N expressed concern from the local 
population about the stationing of U.S. troops in his sector 
in a video tele-conference with COMKFOR. 
 
¶4. (C) The DC-CMO noted that neither NATO nor KFOR have given 
any clear instructions as to the mission (deterrence or 
outreach) of troops stationed at the camp.  She noted that, 
in general, the U.S. contingent in Kosovo does more 
civil-military operations than others stationed here, and 
much more than the French, who prefer more traditionally 
static operations.  She hoped that tactical orders for the 
mission will be given before U.S. troops are stationed there. 
 
¶5. (U) U.S. Office Pristina clears this cable for release in 
its entirety to U.N. Special Envoy for Kosovo Martti 
Ahtisaari. 
MCBRIDE