VZCZCXYZ0026
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRB #1618 2421548
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301548Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4552
INFO RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 4135
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR PRIORITY 0376
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 9024
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA PRIORITY 0064
RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA PRIORITY 0061
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT PRIORITY 3298
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA PRIORITY 2054

UNCLAS RABAT 001618 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/MAG, PM/PPA - AMY COLETTA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MAS PARM PREL MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCO: FYO6 SECTION 1206 PROGRAMS 
 
REF: STATE 133715 
 
¶1.  (U) This cable is sensitive but unclassified.  Please 
protect accordingly. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Per reftel, Poloffs met August 29 with MFA 
Bilateral Affairs and Counterterrorism officer Karim Halim to 
inform the Government of Morocco (GOM) of the likely 
provision of a combined $6,200,000 for Algeria, Chad, 
Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tunisia, to secure the 
Trans-Sahara region against terrorism by developing a secure 
multinational information-sharing network.  Halim, as he has 
done on several occasions, explained that the GOM is 
supportive of all initiatives that work to increase stability 
in the region, but said that they would need more concrete 
details on this proposal before he could provide a 
substantive response. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Halim offered an (informal) list of specific 
questions on the $6.2 million program presented reftel: How 
will the money be distributed among the participating 
countries?  Is the money intended to procure equipment and/or 
train personnel or will these costs be funded separately? 
Halim wondered what type of information would be shared 
through the multinational program, noting that Morocco 
already has information-sharing arrangements with the 
countries named reftel. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Halim questioned the premise of establishing the 
program with the military, underlining that the Moroccan 
military is not the lead agency in the GOM's counterterrorism 
regime.  Depending on the specifics of the 
information-sharing network, Halim said, the program may be 
better suited for another department of the government, such 
as the National Police (DGSN). 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Halim also wondered why Mauritania, given its 
strategic location in the Sahel, has not been included in 
this information-sharing program.  Halim opined that two 
other countries which could potentially play a role in 
combating Trans-Saharan terrorism, Mali and Niger, are 
missing from this program. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Halim reaffirmed the GOM's support in principle for 
this and other CT efforts and said he looked forward to more 
details on the program discussed reftel. 
 
****************************************** 
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat 
****************************************** 
 
RILEY