VZCZCXRO8647
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHKL #1003/01 3171000
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 121000Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
TO RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE PRIORITY 4576
RHMFIUU/COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1972
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHHMHAA/COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY IA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHHMUNB/JIATF WEST PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KUALA LUMPUR 001003 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP, ISN, SCT 
SINGAPORE FOR NCIS 
SECDEF FOR OSD/POLICY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER MCAP MARR MY
SUBJECT: MALAYSIA - U.S. COAST GUARD COOPERATION ADVANCES 
 
REF: 07 KL 1720 
 
Summary and Comment 
------------------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: Embassy Kuala Lumpur is using its USD 1 
million in NDAA Title 1207 funding to achieve three mission 
objectives: to establish a durable, long-term relationship 
between the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the Malaysian 
Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA); to support the MMEA - as 
a new institution - in achieving its organizational 
development goals; and to improve maritime law enforcement 
capacity to counter terrorism and transnational crime in the 
tri-border region (reftel).  These priorities shaped the 
recent visits to Malaysia of a USCG assessment team and to 
the United States of an MMEA delegation led by the head of 
the organization, Director General Admiral Datuk Amdan bin 
Kurish.  The USCG Commandant Admiral Thad Allen met October 
20 with Admiral Amdan at USCG headquarters in Washington, DC. 
 The admirals agreed to sign a letter of intent, establishing 
a new MMEA/USCG relationship and describing areas of mutual 
cooperation.  The MMEA delegation also spent one day visiting 
the USCG training center in Yorktown, Virginia and one in 
briefings at the headquarters of the Naval Criminal 
Investigative Service (NCIS).  These high-level USCG and NCIS 
meetings mark a transition from a period of extensive 
preparation and planning to one of sustained engagement 
focused on capacity building and institutional development. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Comment: The MMEA's visit to the U.S., while 
compressed, was successful on numerous levels.  It solidified 
leadership's support for long-term cooperation between the 
MMEA and its U.S. counterparts.  It demonstrated for the MMEA 
delegation an array of capabilities - both technological and 
organizational - that can be used to meet the requirements of 
the MMEA.  It displayed for MMEA leadership a number of 
approaches to organizational development, training, and 
interagency coordination, which are employed by its U.S. 
counterparts.  Finally, the visit provided Admiral Amdan with 
a number of ideas about how to enhance the MMEA's leadership 
in promoting regional cooperation by tapping USCG 
international programs.  End Summary and Comment. 
 
Preparations 
------------ 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Using its Title 1207 program, designed to improve 
the maritime law enforcement capacity of the MMEA in the 
tri-border region, Embassy Kuala Lumpur has sought to achieve 
a long-held mission objective of forging an enduring 
relationship between the MMEA and the USCG.  Over the past 
year, the Embassy has met extensively with the Malaysian 
National Security Council to secure high-level buy-in to 
USCG-MMEA engagement.  On March 13, 2008 the USCG Office of 
International Affairs sent a representative to meet with 
Embassy KL and the MMEA to discuss overall parameters for 
capacity building.  The USCG developed a training plan 
responsive to the needs identified by the MMEA and on that 
basis established an Inter-Agency Agreement to transfer 1207 
funds from State to USCG. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) When the MMEA named Admiral Amdan as its new 
Director General over the summer, the Embassy sought to 
encourage him to work with the USCG.  On September 23, Deputy 
Chief of Mission Rapson met with Admiral Amdan to underscore 
the Embassy's strong message of support and to introduce the 
Admiral to the head of the USCG's training assessment team. 
During the meeting, Admiral Amdan signaled his desire to 
model the MMEA on the USCG, with its high standards of 
professionalism and trademark ability to work effectively 
within an interagency environment.  Amdan said he viewed 
capacity building under 1207 as an opportunity for the MMEA 
to tailor training to the development needs of the 
organization, taking into account operational priorities and 
the young organization's absorptive capacity.  He added that 
he saw 1207 as a fruitful way to integrate domain awareness 
and interdiction capabilities with those systems being 
introduced in Sabah under Title 1206 funding. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Admiral Amdan noted that annually the MMEA accesses 
 
KUALA LUMP 00001003  002 OF 004 
 
 
60-70 new cadets as well as some 200 non-commissioned 
officers.  In subsequent discussions, Amdan pointed out that 
the MMEA intends to fill its staffing gap of more than 1,000 
billets by 2011 and plans to propose a long-term budget, 
which envisions increasing the staffing of the organization 
by an additional 2,000 to 6,000 total billets.  Both the 
near-term and longer-term targets will require stepped up 
hiring and training on the part of the MMEA. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The assessment team, led by the USCG Office of 
International Affairs, included the USCG's Liaison to the 
Pacific Fleet as well as an NCIS special agent and two 
Embassy officers responsible for overall coordination and 
implementation of the 1207 program.  The team met with MMEA 
officers at headquarters as well as in East Malaysia.  During 
these meetings, the MMEA leadership made clear the dual 
nature of its interest in engaging with the USCG: on the one 
hand, the MMEA wants to benefit from USCG guidance as it 
seeks to develop as a new organization; on the other, the 
MMEA wants to achieve measurable operational and 
skill-building outcomes as a result of the training 
iterations received.  Over the course of the assessment 
team's visit, it was agreed that the 1207 training, because 
it must be focused on the tri-border region, would usefully 
serve as a test case from which lessons could be drawn and 
assessed for their application to the MMEA more broadly. 
 
Two Coast Guards, Head to Head 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The visit by the MMEA to the U.S. was jointly 
organized by the USCG Office of International Affairs, NCIS 
Singapore Field Office and the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. 
It was funded using 1207 and regional funds.  The MMEA 
delegation was led by the Director General Admiral Amdan and 
included Datin Siti Zawiyah, Captain Nasir (Director of 
Strategic Planning), Commander Robert (Training), Mr. Syamsul 
(Human Resources), and Commander Saiful (DG's Special 
Officer).  The program included a day at USCG headquarters; 
one at the USCG's Yorktown, Virginia Training Center; and a 
third at NCIS headquarters.  In the meeting of the two coast 
guard heads, USCG Commandant Admiral Allen warmly welcomed 
MMEA DG Admiral Amdan and his delegation.  Allen offered to 
sign a letter of intent (LOI) with his MMEA counterpart, and 
Amdan enthusiastically concurred.  Allen highlighted on a map 
of Malaysia the importance of the tri-border region, stating 
that the tri-border region was where the USCG planned to 
engage with the MMEA with its capacity building efforts. 
Allen noted the Coast Guard's eagerness to increase its 
partnerships to promote stability in the Southeast Asia 
region and the importance of regional forums focused on 
common maritime security interests. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Admiral Amdan acknowledged the importance of 
international forums, underscoring the utility of the recent 
ASEAN heads of coast guard meeting in the Philippines.  Amdan 
signaled Malaysia's support for the proposal - tabled at the 
last meeting - that the USCG be granted observer status in 
future forums.  Allen said the USCG was learning much from 
Southeast Asia regarding the necessity of mutual assistance. 
In subsequent discussions, Amdan noted with pride the 
collaborative mechanisms in place in the Straits of Malacca 
and expressed his vision to gradually develop the MMEA's role 
as a proponent of international cooperation.  Amdan suggested 
that, given adequate time to lay the groundwork with his 
counterparts from neighboring coast guards, the MMEA might 
eventually be interested in exploring opportunities to engage 
in joint training or study tours.  He acknowledged that 1207 
training, scheduled to begin in East Malaysia, would need to 
move into the tri-border region and could -- potentially and 
with the right preparation -- fruitfully involve personnel 
from neighboring countries. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) While at USCG headquarters, the MMEA delegation 
received briefings on search and rescue (SAR), maritime law 
enforcement (MLE), and maritime domain awareness (MDA).  The 
MMEA delegation expressed particular interest in 
international cooperation on SAR, noting a willingness to 
include Indonesia and the Philippines in an agreement on SAR 
preparedness.  Regarding MLE, the MMEA delegation focused on 
 
KUALA LUMP 00001003  003 OF 004 
 
 
how USCG handled illegal immigration cases and what criteria 
could be used in a porous border environment to establish 
whether certain groups of individuals were intending 
immigrants.  USCG briefers outlined various UN protocols as 
well as specific maritime operations protocols, established 
between bordering countries in advance for handling illegal 
immigration cases.  In conjunction with briefings on MDA, the 
MMEA delegation was struck by the enormous amount of 
information sharing that was required to achieve a common 
operating picture and to usefully exploit domain awareness in 
an international and interagency environment.  Admiral Amdan 
suggested that the political mechanisms might not yet be in 
place to provide the robust coordination needed to ensure a 
similar level of information sharing.  He did, however, point 
to significant advances made in adopting a government-wide 
radio network as a common platform across Malaysian 
government agencies. 
 
Yorktown Training Center 
------------------------ 
 
¶10.  (SBU) On October 21, the MMEA delegation was introduced 
to the USCG's Yorktown Training Center through briefings and 
guided tours of the facilities.  Briefings focused on the 
overall mission of the training center, the international 
training division, marine safety, boat handling, and search 
and rescue training.  Discussion centered on enlisted and 
officer accession programs and how much to focus on general 
versus specific training.  Admiral Amdan mentioned that the 
MMEA will continue to rely on the Navy for basic training of 
MMEA personnel until the MMEA's Kuantan training facility is 
completed in 2010.  The group toured the engineering and boat 
forces schools.  The MMEA delegation was particularly 
interested in the mooring facilities used by the boat school. 
 The floating dock - which is based on a modular design 
originally used for jet skis - was considered by the 
delegation as a potentially cost-effective solution to MMEA's 
critical moorage shortages. 
 
NCIS 
---- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The MMEA delegation spent the final day of its 
visit at the headquarters of the Naval Criminal Investigative 
Service, where it received a range of briefings and toured 
the NCIS operations center.  As the MMEA has an investigative 
and prosecutorial function, the delegation took a keen 
interest in briefings on the NCIS's background and mission; 
forensics/crime scene management; and the FBI's Maritime 
Security Program/Maritime Liaison Agent Program.  NCIS 
leadership expressed its eagerness to provide the MMEA with 
training in investigation techniques in coordination with 
planned USCG courses.  The delegation, again, was struck by 
the degree of information sharing and interagency cooperation 
required to prosecute complex criminal cases in the maritime 
domain.  Admiral Amdan noted that he will have to work with 
his counterparts in the Malaysian police to establish the 
appropriate division of labor between the MMEA's 
investigative authority and that of the police Criminal 
Investigations Division.  The Admiral also noted that, 
because Malaysia has not adopted international laws against 
piracy, the MMEA is unable to prosecute piracy violations. 
 
Visit Outcomes 
-------------- 
 
Among the next steps agreed to be undertaken as a result of 
the visits were: 
 
-- a Letter of Intent to be signed by Admirals Allen and 
Amdan outlining areas of USCG-MMEA cooperation; 
-- a training program sending a USCG-led team to Malaysia 
every other month; 
-- recognition by both Admirals that training should be 
conducted in the tri-border region; 
-- MMEA support for USCG request to have observer status at 
ASEAN meeting of Coast Guard heads; 
-- USCG to provide via Embassy KL electronic copies of 
detailed briefings to MMEA; 
-- MMEA to assess utility of floating dock technology for use 
 
KUALA LUMP 00001003  004 OF 004 
 
 
in Malaysia; 
-- NCIS to provide crime scene investigation/forensics 
training within USCG-led program. 
 
 
1207 Tri-border Capacity Building 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) As a result of the visit by the USCG assessment 
team in September, a training sequence was established with 
the MMEA to provide for the dispatch of one USCG-led mobile 
training team to Malaysia every other month.  Embassy Kuala 
Lumpur and MMEA appreciate USCG's efforts to maximize the 
continuity among trainers, by scheduling, to the extent 
possible, training teams with prior Malaysia experience.  The 
first 1207-funded training began as scheduled November 10 and 
focuses on training MMEA boarding officers from throughout 
the tri-border region in maritime law enforcement.  NCIS 
special agents and forensics experts are contributing a 
module on crime scene management and forensics.  The initial 
training is being conducted off the coast of Sabah, in 
Labuan.  Both DCM Rapson and COMDT Admiral Allen have raised 
directly with Admiral Amdan the importance of training in the 
tri-border region, and Embassy staff have discussed the 
matter repeatedly with the Malaysian NSC.  When asked 
specifically about the matter of shifting training from 
Labuan to the tri-border, Admiral Amdan acknowledged that the 
training would be moved there.  He did not, however, commit 
to a date certain for doing so.  The Embassy's American 
Presence Officer, who has responsibility for East Malaysia, 
is working with the training teams and local MMEA officials 
to help ensure the training achieves desired outcomes. 
Embassy KL will work with the training teams to benchmark 
these outcomes and with MMEA and USCG headquarters to link 
these benchmarks to the wider organizational development 
needs of the MMEA. 
 
KEITH