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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 000432 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2020 
TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID MOPS PK
SUBJECT: PROGRESS CONTINUES ON SOUTH WAZIRISTAN PROJECTS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Anne W. Patterson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
. 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) On February 20, U.S. Economic and Development 
Assistance Coordinator Robin Raphel (AssistCoord) met with 
Army Director General of Staff Duties Major General Zubair 
and Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) Additional 
Chief Secretary (ACS) Habibullah Khan and their team to 
discuss South Waziristan Agency reconstruction projects. 
Based on the presentation by the Pakistani side, AssistCoord 
agreed that the USG would provide the requested 15 percent 
($8.25 million) lump sum mobilization advance to cover the 
costs of deploying the Frontier Works Organization to project 
sites and the purchase of required equipment as soon as the 
Ministry of Finance establishes the assignment account for 
the project.  To address tribal parity, General Zubair and 
FATA ACS Khan proposed to include two additional projects in 
Wazir tribal areas in the initial phase of assistance * the 
Tank-Wana road and a second dam.  General Zubair stated that 
all GOP project documentation associated with reconstruction 
projects would be finished by April 15, 2010 and committed to 
the first project monitoring trip by USAID's local contractor 
in mid April 2010.  Border Coordinator Elizabeth Richard, 
USAID Mission Director Robert Wilson, USAID Deputy Mission 
Director - NWFP/FATA Ed Birgells, and Special Assistant 
Khashayar Ghashghai also attended the meeting.  End Summary. 
 
Pakistanis Military ) Good Faith Effort 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) General Zubair provided an update on current 
activities, stating that ground has been broken on two roads 
in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) and that 70 kilometers of 
road surveys were complete.  He said that feasibility and 
political studies have been completed for a number of dams in 
SWA and that two sites have been selected.  He reported that 
Planning Commission Pro Forma Number 1,s (PC1s) for 
electrification in SWA are now being verified by the Frontier 
Works Organization (FWO). (Note:  A PC1 is a GOP approved 
roadmap for project implementation.  End Note.) 
 
¶3. (C) General Zubair highlighted Pakistani military efforts 
in positioning personnel  and equipment in SWA, including a 
total of 1020 FWO staff, many  of whom had been repositioned 
from Quetta where several projects had been cancelled due to 
insufficient development funds.  He reiterated that these 
moves were made in advance of the receipt of USG assistance 
funds and were proof that the GOP was serious in its efforts 
to hold territory gained in recent fighting. 
 
Seeking More Assistance 
----------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Stating the need to balance tribal issues, General 
Zubair asked that we consider adding two projects totaling 
$44 million to the current $55 million, bring the total for 
the first phase to $99 million.  $31 million would pay for a 
road between Tank and Wana and $13 million would pay for a 
dam in the Wazir area of Dana.  These new projects would 
benefit Wazir tribal areas.  General Zubair said it was 
important to begin work in both the Wazir areas and the 
Mehsud areas at the same time in order to avoid showing 
favoritism and asked for USG commitment to fund the projects 
as soon as possible. 
 
Advancing Payment 
----------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Based on the presentation of the Pakistani side, 
AssistCoord agreed that the USG would provide the 15 percent 
($8.25 million) mobilization advance in a lump sum as 
requested by General Zubair.  (Note:  On 11 February General 
Zubair specifically requested Ambassador Patterson to provide 
the advance in a lump sum rather than advance 15 percent of 
each of a series of individual PC-1 documents that will cover 
various elements of the first phase of the SWA effort.  He 
cited the considerable costs already incurred and the fact 
that the individual PC-1s were taking more time than 
 
ISLAMABAD 00000432  002 OF 002 
 
 
expected.)  The funds will be provided to the FATA 
Secretariat as soon as the required assignment account is 
established by the Ministry of Finance. 
 
The Reimbursement and Monitoring Process 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) All parties once again agreed that future funding 
would be in the form of reimbursement for completed work and 
tied to approved PC1s and the verification of completed work 
by USG contractors.  Once a PC1 is approved, project 
milestones would be negotiated by USAID and Pakistani 
technical experts.  Once a project reaches a milestone, the 
completed work would be verified.  The Project Management 
Unit (PMU) based in Dera Ismail Khan and USAID contractors 
would independently carry out the verification.  Once 
verified, the FATA Secretariat would then be reimbursed for 
work completed.  General Zubair committed to having the first 
project monitoring trip by USAID contractors in mid April 
with subsequent trips to be mutually decided. 
 
Civilian to Civilian Assistance 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) AssistCoord emphasized that the SWA assistance program 
needed to be, and be seen as, civilian led.  She referenced 
recent news reports showing Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Kayani 
inaugurating the road projects and indicated it would have 
been helpful if officials from the FATA Secretariat had been 
present.  AssistCoord reiterated that U.S. civilian 
assistance funds cannot go to military institutions.  General 
Zubair stated he understood, saying that the FATA Secretariat 
was the military's &client8, and that Mr. Habibullah is in 
charge. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (C) The effort that has already taken place to get these 
SWA reconstruction projects off the ground demonstrates 
commitment of the Pakistani military to reconstruction in 
South Waziristan.  The Pakistani military views the road 
between Tank and Makheen in particular to be strategically 
important to their national security interests.  This road 
will provide both civilian and military access to areas deep 
within South Waziristan and eventually into North Waziristan 
and is in their best interests. 
 
¶9. (C) Delays thus far have resulted from the Frontier Works 
Organization taking more time than expected to complete the 
PC-1 planning documents, as well as survey work and required 
detailed designs.  An additional delay in the agreed 
mobilization advance could occur if the Ministry of Finance 
is slow in opening the required assignment account into which 
the funds will be deposited, but we expect this should occur 
in a matter of days.  Providing a mobilization advance before 
the PC-1 documents detailing the more precise cost and 
timelines for the project could set an unhelpful precedent, 
but Post believes it is necessary to keep essential momentum 
in SWA reconstruction effort going, and is committed to 
holding the line against further such exceptions in the 
future. 
 
¶10. (C) The more challenging aspect of this effort will be 
agreeing on the milestones against which further funding can 
be reimbursed, and ensuring regular monitoring of the actual 
work on the road and other projects.  While we have a very 
firm commitment by the Pakistan military to facilitate this 
monitoring on a regular basis, we will need to remain wary of 
possible excuses for them not to make good on this 
commitment.   End Comment. 
PATTERSON