VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #5860 0981812
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 071806Z APR 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI IMMEDIATE 0000
RUEHDO/AMEMBASSY DOHA IMMEDIATE 0000
RUEHKU/AMEMBASSY KUWAIT IMMEDIATE 0000
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH IMMEDIATE 0000
INFO RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0000
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0000

UNCLAS STATE 035860 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON EFIN KDEM PGOV PREL SA KU QA AE AF
SUBJECT: PREPARATION FOR THE PARIS CONFERENCE ON 
AFGHANISTAN 
 
REF: STATE 32155 (NOTAL) 
 
Sensitive but unclassified; please handle accordingly. 
 
¶1. (U) This is an action request.  See paragraph four. 
 
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Overview 
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¶2. (U) On June 12, France will host and co-chair (along with 
the Government of Afghanistan and the UN) a Foreign 
Minister-level international conference on Afghanistan in 
Paris.  We anticipate Foreign Minister Kouchner, UN Secretary 
General Ban Ki-moon, and Afghan Foreign Minister Spanta will 
jointly chair, and up to 80 international delegations will be 
present.  Afghan President Karzai and French President 
Sarkozy are also expected to play key roles.  Ambassador Kai 
Eide, the new Special Representative of the UN 
Secretary-General to Afghanistan, will likely use this venue 
 
SIPDIS 
to unfold his vision for donor coordination and mobilization 
of resources for Afghanistan. 
 
¶3. (U) Tentatively dubbed by the French as the "Afghanistan 
Support Conference," this major international gathering will 
focus on two main objectives, one political and one 
financial.  On the political side, the conference is meant to 
renew the international community's support for the 
Afghanistan Compact -- the roadmap for Afghanistan's 
development signed by the Afghanistan Government and 
international partners at the 2006 London Conference.  On the 
financial side, the conference is intended to help raise new 
financial pledges to support the Afghan National Development 
Strategy and to support 2009 and 2010 elections.  It will 
also urge donors to live up to previous, still-unfulfilled 
promises of assistance.  End overview. 
 
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Objectives 
---------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Department requests that action addressees approach 
host governments at an appropriate senior level with the 
following objectives (Assistant Secretary Boucher will 
personally deliver this demarche to the UAE Government when 
he visits Abu Dhabi April 15): 
 
-- Emphasize the importance the U.S. places on this 
initiative; 
 
-- Urge attendance by senior host nation officials, 
preferably at the ministerial level, at the conference and a 
commitment to pledge financial support; and 
 
-- Seek initial feedback from host governments on possible 
conference attendees when available and intentions regarding 
pledging. 
 
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Reporting deadline 
------------------ 
 
¶5. (U) Posts should report demarche results to SCA/A, slugged 
for Lauren Frese, and to NEA/ARP, no later than Friday, April 
¶26.  Embassy Kabul should inform the Afghan Government of the 
U.S. effort. 
 
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Background 
---------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) While the exact amount of the U.S. pledge for 
Afghanistan at the conference is still under review, it will 
be substantial.  We will send more details on U.S. pledging 
and the composition of the U.S. delegation in the coming 
months, prior to the conference. 
 
¶7. (SBU) On the financial component, the pledge total must 
surpass the $10.5 billion achieved in the 2006 London 
Conference for the meeting to be portrayed a success. 
Anything lower will be perceived inside and outside the 
conference as a waning of the international community's 
commitment to Afghanistan.  We expect the conference 
participants will pledge as much as $12-13 billion. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The U.S. Government is aiming for significant 
increases in contributions from the Gulf states, which would, 
in turn, show the insurgents that these states support the 
Government of Afghanistan and would contribute to the 
international community's long-term investment in 
Afghanistan.  Particularly, the United States will target 
Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar, which 
are capable of providing much more to this effort than they 
have to date.  Since 2002, Saudi Arabia has pledged $259 
million for Afghan reconstruction, with a financial 
contribution of $52 million for construction of the 
Kandahar-Herat road.  The United Arab Emirates has pledged 
roughly $74 million in assistance since 2001, but the exact 
amount and nature of its actual disbursement is not clear. 
The Emiratis frequently cite higher assistance numbers in 
meetings with senior U.S. officials, but follow-up attempts 
to determine the scope and types of project assistance cannot 
be verified, even with UAE officials.  Kuwait has disbursed 
nearly $45 million in foreign assistance to Afghanistan since 
2001, but says additional aid is dependent on resolving $19 
million in Afghan Government arrears on a 1977 loan for a 
sugar factory.  After years of debate regarding the loan 
terms, the Kuwait fund has resubmitted the loan terms under 
Highly Indebted Poor Country status that the Government of 
Afghanistan and the Paris Club began reviewing in March. 
However, while we are encouraging rapid progress, these debt 
negotiations are a long process, and Kuwait does not appear 
in a hurry to resolve this issue.  Since 2001, Qatar has 
pledged $21 million, but we do not know of any disbursement 
from that country. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The Gulf states are more likely to provide new 
assistance to Afghanistan if the Afghans take the lead in 
requesting help.  The Gulf states also prefer to focus on 
specific projects as opposed to other forms of assistance. 
The U.S. Government will recommend that the Afghan Government 
identify particular reconstruction projects that will require 
donor support.  For example, we will work with the Afghans to 
encourage Saudi Arabia's current consideration of financing 
for construction of the un-built northwest corridor of the 
Afghan ring road and request Saudi Arabia to consider it as a 
Paris deliverable.  The U.S. Government will also propose to 
the Afghan Government that it ask Gulf states to consider 
contributing to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund and 
the 2009 and 2010 elections, or financing for irrigation 
construction, the Northern Electric Power System 
(specifically, the Kama irrigation/hydro-electric power 
project in Nangahar), construction of Afghan roads 
(specifically, the Nangarhar Southern Ring Road and the 
Herat-Changcharan Road), urban housing, and rehabilitation of 
regional airports.  Embassy Kabul plans to encourage the 
Afghan Government beginning the week of April 6 to engage 
before the Paris conference with the governments of Kuwait, 
Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar to seek pledges 
of assistance toward these projects. 
 
¶10. (SBU) In addition to new financing, it is equally 
important to remind the Gulf states who have previously made 
promises of financial assistance to accelerate action to 
disburse these pledges expeditiously.  The Afghan people have 
made enormous strides over the previous seven years, but the 
stability achieved so far remains fragile in many parts of 
the country and is still dependent to a large extent on the 
financial generosity and follow-through of the international 
community. 
 
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Point of contact 
---------------- 
 
¶11. (U) Point of contact in SCA/A is Afghanistan desk officer 
Lauren Frese at 202-647-4895 or by classified email. 
RICE