VZCZCXRO1973
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHROV
DE RUEHJA #1390/01 2030540
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 210540Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9583
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2793
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 1142
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 1104
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2024
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2248
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 2861
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 2819
RUEHBAD/AMCONSUL PERTH 0968
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC//NMJIC-J2//
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0925

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001390 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, PM, DRL, IO, IO/UNP, AF, 
AF/SPG 
SECDEF FOR USDP/ISA/AP - P. IPSEN 
PM FOR JENNIFER HANLEY 
NSC FOR E.PHU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/21/2018 
TAGS: PREL MARR PKO ID SU
SUBJECT: DARFUR PEACEKEEPING -- INDONESIA STILL COMMITTED 
TO DEPLOYMENT 
 
REF: JAKARTA 1191 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  The Indonesian government tells us that it 
remains firmly committed to the deployment of peacekeeping 
police to Darfur.  That said, recent attacks on UNAMID forces 
and the indictment of Sudanese President Bashir by an 
International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor are weighing on 
the GOI as it makes plans to move forward.  Logistics are 
also an issue--while equipment and supplies for the team have 
arrived at Port Sudan, they need to be moved to a support 
camp, which will take time.  If all goes smoothly, it is 
estimated that the unit will arrive in Darfur in late 
September at the earliest.  END SUMMARY. 
 
GOI COMMITTED TO SENDING POLICE 
 
¶2.  (C) The GOI is still on board for its long-planned 
deployment of police to Darfur.  On July 14, Tri Sukma 
Djandam of the President's Office of International Affairs 
told Pol/C that the Indonesian government was committed to 
sending the unit to Darfur as soon as possible.  He related 
that Indonesia placed a high priority on international 
peacekeeping and would keep its commitment to UNAMID (United 
Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur).  Echoing these 
comments, Fikry Cassidy, Deputy Director for International 
Security at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DEPLU), told 
poloff on July 16 that the GOI still plans to deploy the 140 
member Formed Police Unit (FPU) as soon as it possibly can. 
 
THERE ARE CONCERNS 
 
¶3.  (C) The unit is now scheduled to depart Indonesia in late 
September or early October, but several hurdles remain before 
a final decision is made on when to go.  Cassidy noted that 
the Indonesian National Police (INP) and GOI officials are 
carefully monitoring the situation in Darfur after recent 
deadly attacks on UNAMID forces.  The Indonesian government 
is also concerned that the recent indictment by an ICC 
prosecutor of Sudanese President Bashir may have negative 
consequences on the unit's ability to deploy and carry out 
its intended peacekeeping mission in the region. 
 
¶4.  (C) Cassidy said the FPU's equipment and supplies have 
already arrived at Port Sudan (located on the Red Sea), but 
that overland transport from Port Sudan to Darfur would take 
three months.  Equipment and supplies and a functioning base 
camp have to be in place before the FPU can depart.  The 
Turkish contractors hired to build the base camp have 
received their visas for their work in Sudan, but are still 
waiting for work permits from the Sudanese government.  The 
ICC indictment of Sudanese President Bashir may make 
obtaining the required work permits difficult. 
 
¶5.  (C) Cassidy said the GOI will continue to review the 
situation, and take necessary action based on the security 
situation in Darfur and the response of the Sudanese 
government to the latest developments.  Cassidy added that he 
would inform us of any new developments regarding the FPU's 
deployment. 
 
A LONG-AWAITED DEPLOYMENT 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The deployment to Darfur has been bedeviled by 
delays, almost all of them connected to the difficulties of 
the regional situation.  The delays included: 
 
JAKARTA 00001390  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
-- The GOI had planned to send the first tranche of police to 
Darfur in October 2007.  That plan was delayed when African 
Union troops were ambushed in late September. 
 
-- After an inter-agency review of the situation in the 
region sparked by violence there, Indonesian President, 
Yudhoyono signed a Presidential Decree on February 6, 2008, 
giving permission for the police team to deploy in March. 
 
 
-- GOI budgetary constraints then delayed the deployment to 
late May.  The May deployment was delayed when visas for the 
unit were not granted by the Sudanese government until June. 
 
-- When the GOI learned that the transit time for equipment 
and supplies to reach Darfur from Port Sudan was 
approximately three months, it pushed the personnel transit 
date back to September. 
 
INDONESIA STILL ON BOARD, BUT WILL MONITOR 
 
¶7.  (C) There is little doubt that Indonesia wants to help, 
as it has helped with respect to peacekeeping in Lebanon.  As 
noted, the team's equipment/supplies are already in Sudan, a 
concrete indication that the GOI is following up.  That said, 
the regional complexities are clearly proving problematic for 
the Indonesians.  Our guess is that the Indonesian government 
will continue to monitor the situation very closely, even as 
it plans the transit of police to the region. 
 
HUME