VZCZCXYZ0003
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #3972 1412251
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O P 202243Z MAY 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA IMMEDIATE 0000
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL IMMEDIATE 0000
INFO RUEHBD/AMEMBASSY BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN PRIORITY 0000
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE PRIORITY 0000
RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR PRIORITY 0000

UNCLAS STATE 053972 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON EFIN KDEM PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: ENLISTING AUSTRALIA TO SOLICIT ASSISTANCE PLEDGES 
FOR AFGHANISTAN 
 
REF: A. STATE 32155 
     ¶B. STATE 44359 
 
¶1. (U) In the lead-up to the June 12 Paris Support 
Conference for Afghanistan, the U.S. Government will be 
engaging emerging donors to present U.S. objectives for 
the conference and encourage participation and financial 
pledging (Ref A) . At a meeting on Afghanistan in Ottawa 
last month, Australian Assistant Secretary for Iraq and 
Afghanistan Paul Robillaird told U.S. 
Afghanistan Coordinator Pat Moon that Australia stood 
ready to help solicit pledges in the lead up to the 
Conference. 
 
¶2. (U) The U.S. Government's overarching goal at the Paris 
Support Conference is to join the international community 
in reaffirming our long-term commitment to Afghanistan and 
putting money behind an effective, Afghan-led strategy for 
development.  Afghanistan's partners, with UN Special 
Representative to the Secretary General for Afghanistan 
Kai Eide in the lead, should commit to improving the 
quality of life for the Afghan people.  Particularly, we 
hope the international community uses the Paris Conference 
as an opportunity to support the vision Kai Eide presents 
of the enhanced role of the UN in Afghanistan, to commit 
to taking actions necessary t o ensure aid reaches the 
Afghan people through better coordination and assistance 
monitoring; and to increase the Afghan Government,s 
ownership of its own development. 
 
¶3. (U) We hope Afghanistan's partners come to the 
conference prepared to pledge assistance to support the 
Afghan-identified development priorities and the 2009 and 
2010 elections (Ref B).  To be effective, our commitments 
must be met by a complementary Afghan pledge to improve 
accountability and execute a concrete plan to fight 
corruption. We are urging the Afghan Government to come to 
Paris prepared to announce these commitments. 
 
¶4. (U) We would like to accept Australia's offer to pursue 
pledges of assistance from its neighbors who are capable of 
helping 
Afghanistan.  Without the continued generosity of the 
international community, Afghanistan's fragility will 
remain a threat to regional and worldwide security. 
 
¶5. (U) Particularly, we want to enlist Australia to seek 
foreign assistance pledges for Afghanistan from Singapore, 
Malaysia, and Brunei. Singapore and Malaysia have 
helped in the past, and Brunei can surely afford it.  The 
French have confirmed that they will be invited to the June 
12 Paris Conference. 
 
¶6. (U) In May 2007, the Singapore 
military sent a five-man medical team to Afghanistan to 
operate as part of the New Zealand Defense Forces' 
provincial reconstruction team for about three months in 
Bamiyan Province.  The team established and operated a 
dental clinic at Bamiyan Hospital; a team that followed 
rehabilitated and 
constructed bridges throughout the province.  Singapore has 
announced it will be returning teams to Bamiyam province in 
the summer of 2008.  It has also indicated it will send two 
consecutive deployments of 20 medical personnel to support 
the Australian/Dutch field hospital in Oruzgan province, 
starting summer 2008.  Singapore also continues to send for 
90-day deployments 
a KC 135 refueling tanker to the Gulf to conduct an 
air-to-air refueling mission in support of multi-national 
forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Malaysia also provided a 
"short-course" training in "customs, diplomacy, 
construction contracts, and other fields" for 100 Afghan 
government workers in 2003.  Australia could thank 
Singapore and Malaysia for their previous efforts and ask 
them to consider reinvesting in Afghanistan, where 
security concerns remain a threat to regional stability. 
 
¶7. (U) Australia could also push Brunei to deliver on 
previous plans to help Afghanistan that have yet to 
materialize.  According to Embassy reporting, his Excellency 
Pengiran Haji Mohd Yunus PgHj Mahmud, Ambassador of Brunei to 
the UK, attended the 2006 
London Conference and although Brunei did not pledge, he 
nevertheless promised to contribute $5 million to the 
Kapisa Medical Center project. However, this project never 
materialized.  In the lead up to the Paris Conference, we 
should re-engage and urge Brunei to make good on its previous 
offers of assistance. 
 
¶8. (U) Australia could encourage these states to invest in 
Afghanistan,s development through contributions to trust 
funds and election support.  As we did with Malaysia in 
the lead up to the Paris Conference,  Australia 
could encourage Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei to 
consider making contributions to the Afghanistan 
Reconstruction Trust Fund, the Counter-Narcotics Trust 
Fund, and the Law and Order Trust Fund.  Australia could 
also encourage these nations to provide support for the 
2009 and 2010 elections. The UN has estimated the total 
election price tag at approximately $475 million.  Funding 
for voter registration, due to begin in August, is 
particularly urgent and we are encouraging donors to 
provide funding now.  Failure to fill the shortfalls in 
elections support ultimately threatens the derailment of 
necessary electoral projects and jeopardizes the 2009 and 
2010 elections, the next benchmarks in Afghanistan's 
democratic development. 
 
¶9. (U) ACTION REQUEST: We request Embassy Canberra 
approach senior-level government counterparts to take up 
Australia's offer to lobby for foreign assistance pledges 
for Afghanistan.  Post is requested to present U.S. 
objectives for the Paris Conference, as stated in 
paragraphs 2 and 3, and encourage financial pledges from 
Singapore, and Malaysia.  Post is 
requested to respond to this demarche to Washington no 
later than Tuesday May 20, slugged for Lauren Frese 
(SCA/A).  Embassy Kabul should inform the Afghan Government 
of the U.S. effort. USUN may also draw on this 
cable as appropriate. 
RICE