US embassy cable - 04DJIBOUTI1288

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 DJIBOUTI 001288 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
CENTCOM FOR POLAD HOLZMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR, EAID, ECON, ETRD, MOPS, PTER, DJ 
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI AND SAFE SKIES FOR AFRICA REVIEW 
 
REF: SECSTATE 203125 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY: As Djibouti does not yet have a program 
under Safe Skies for Africa, Post endeavors to describe 
what the civil aviation officials on the ground hope a 
SSFA program could provide.  Djibouti's airport is not 
up to international standards as written by the ICAO, 
however, according to Airport Director, David Hawker, 
it is not far from standards.  The most critical point 
that needs to be addressed in order to be compliant is 
the existence of national legislation regarding airport 
standards.  Djibouti's department of Civil Aviation 
reportedly has a draft in the works.  However, Hawker 
hopes that the Government can be persuaded to adopt the 
ICAO legislation as its own rather than attempting to 
draft a new law from scratch. END SUMMARY. 
 
DJIBOUTI'S RESOURCES ON THE GROUND 
---------------------------------- 
2. (U) Ambouli International Airport is a single runway 
airport located just outside the capital city of 
Djibouti.  The airport is flanked by the French Air 
Force Base, the American military base home to the 
Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, and the Gulf 
of Tadjourah.  The airport presently can land, and does 
land, planes as large as the C-5 Galaxy.  Though the 
airport can land planes suitable for mass-cargo shipping, 
its air traffic is currently limited to mostly passenger 
flights. 
 
3. (U) Djibouti's air connections currently include 
weekly flights from Paris on Daallo Airlines, Air France 
and Ethiopian Airlines; flights to Addis Ababa three 
times weekly on Ethiopian Airlines; flights three times 
weekly to Dubai on both Djibouti Airlines and Daallo 
Airlines; twice weekly connections to Nairobi on Kenyan 
Airways; and British Airways services that connect to 
Asmara and Nairobi.  Djibouti Airlines also connects 
regionally to Hargeisa and Dire Dawa. Its capacity to 
handle cargo and freight shipping is currently minimal. 
 
4. (U) Security screening equipment is limited to two 
out of date belt-fed x-ray machines and two walk 
through metal detectors to scan baggage and personal 
goods.  Security lighting is well within ICAO regulated 
codes, thanks to a grant project by the French military. 
Both the American and French military have improved the 
exterior fencing around portions of the airport, but 
several hundred kilometers more is still needed. 
Fire-fighting equipment consists of one engine that can 
no longer make the length of the runway in two minutes, 
as required by safety regulations.  According to Hawker, 
there is no significant change since the last FAA 
evaluation of the airport, improvements are already 
underway. 
 
5. (SBU) Security for the airport is provided by a 
combination of National Police and Gendarme personnel. 
This arrangement has proven to be less than efficient. 
Overlapping and redundant responsibilities among the 
security services, coupled with the lack of clear 
legislation and detailed planning for airport security, 
engenders confusion and creates serious vulnerabilities. 
It is unclear as to which organization has the 
responsibility and jurisdiction to provide emergency 
response to critical situations.  In addition, while 
there is a controlled-access badge system in place, 
there is a significant abuse of privilege and a resultant 
lackadaisical attitude on behalf of the security 
personnel.  This deficiency presents a situation in 
which sensitive areas of the airport are loosely 
controlled and are easily penetrated by unauthorized 
personnel either posing as important officials or 
slipping past unwary sentries. 
 
6. (U) The airport land and infrastructure is owned 
by the Government of Djibouti but managed by Dubai 
Ports International.  The total budget of the airport 
is provided by funds generated by incoming and 
outgoing passenger and cargo traffic.  Currently, 
this traffic is barely enough to maintain existing 
functions.  Though there has been an increase in 
passenger traffic due to economic development projects, 
it is not yet enough to make the airport profitable. 
 
WHAT DJIBOUTI LACKS 
------------------- 
7. (U) Djibouti currently does not meet international 
regulations for fire fighting equipment.  Though it 
can land a plane as large as a C-5 Galaxy, it does 
not have the equipment that would bring it up to 
category nine fire-fighting standards.  The one engine 
the airport has is outdated and cannot get from one 
end of the runway to the other in under two minutes, 
as required by ICAO regulations. 
 
8. (U) Djibouti's airport is not certified, and cannot 
become certified until it has national legislation to 
comply with.  Hawker hopes that the Djiboutian Civil 
Aviation Authority and the Government of Djibouti will 
adopt the ICAO standards as its own.  Hawker said that 
in any case, the airport is working towards the ICAO 
standards regardless of how the legislation issue goes. 
 
9. (U) Hawker said the airport does not have an update 
Instrument Landing System (ILS). It is currently trying 
to procure a refurbished one from Talis Germany, but is 
encountering problems from Talis France which requires 
that Africa be serviced by Talis France.  The problem, 
Hawker said, with procuring the system from France is 
that it does not sell older models and a new one is 
far beyond the price range for the airport.  Djibouti's 
airport also does not have at present the means to 
calibrate radio aides, and is currently waiting for 
assistance from the French military. 
 
NOTE: (SBU) Djibouti received an airport security 
management course coordinated through the DS 
Anti-Terrorism Assistance program in December 2002. 
Although the course was effective and beneficial for 
the Djiboutians that attended, it also pointed out 
several deficiencies that include, but are not 
limited to; the lack of legislation for airport 
operations; the need for a government organization to 
regulate the airport and bring it into compliance with 
ICAO; the need for the development of a national civil 
aviation plan, an airport security plan and an air 
carrier operations plan; and the establishment of 
crisis management and contingency plans to deal with 
catastrophic events. Unless Djibouti can meet some of 
these basic requirements no amount of physical security 
will be adequate to deal with a crisis situation. 
 
WHAT DPI PLANS FOR DJIBOUTI'S AIRPORT 
------------------------------------- 
10. (U) DPI hopes the new traffic brought in by 
economic development projects will bring greater 
revenue from cargo shipment.  With the new port at 
Doraleh coming on-line next year, there have already 
been requests for the airport to provide significant 
amounts of equipment to handle trans-shipment through 
the airport.  Hawker said there are several Dubai 
companies that are looking towards Djibouti's planned 
Airport Free Zone as an option to expand their 
over-extended offices in Dubai.  The estimated target 
for tons shipped through Djibouti's airport is 20,000 
per year with routes going from Dubai to Central Africa. 
 
11. (SBU) Hawker explained that airport has the 
resources and funds ready to construct the Airport Free 
Zone but has stalled in hopes of a new runway.  He 
explained that since the area between the airport and 
the two camps - Camp Lemonier in particular - is so 
small, the airport cannot expand and still have 
sufficient area around it for regulations sake.  Hawker 
proposes that the American and French military could 
easily take over the whole of Ambouli Airport if they 
could construct a new runway for the airport.  He 
identified a small airstrip that the French military 
uses close to the city that could "cost effectively be 
expanded" and DPI would then put up the funding for a 
new terminal.  The airstrip identified is in a 
convenient location to the new port and to the highway. 
Hawker added that taking over the existing airport would 
be beneficial in many ways to Camp Lemonier, particularly 
in the issues of space and security.  The target 
completion date for the Airport Free Zone remains 
this year. 
 
HOW DJIBOUTI SEES SAFE SKIES 
---------------------------- 
12. (SBU) There is a general sentiment of impatience on 
the issue of Safe Skies.  Both Hawker and the Director of 
Civil Aviation, Almis Haid, have expressed disappointment, 
and slight displeasure, at what they describe as Embassy 
requests for improvements needed for the past three years 
running yet giving no definitive word on whether Djibouti 
is in or out of the Safe Skies program.  Hawker commented 
that Haid had felt slighted after attending programming in 
2003 as a potential participant because the Djiboutian 
delegation was not included, in his opinion, to a 
satisfactory degree.  Hawker said that he hoped the 
upcoming conference in Johannesburg will prove to be more 
fruitful. 
 
SAFE SKIES AND SECURITY PROGRAMS 
-------------------------------- 
13. (SBU) Although immigration controls are currently 
considered to be ponderous, unresponsive and prone to 
mistake and abuse, a USG sponsored counter-terrorism 
initiative (Terrorist Interdiction Program - PISCES) 
is under way that will assist the Djiboutians in 
bolstering their tracking and registration capabilities. 
Upon completion of Phase-1 of the program, the 
immigration service will be able to document and screen 
potential terrorists using a network of computer systems 
and bio-metrics.  This system will have real time reports 
generated that will be monitored by the Security 
Services and Embassy personnel. 
 
14. (SBU) Djibouti's security services have received 
several training courses through DS/ATA that concentrate 
on enhancing their counter-terrorism capabilities.  In 
addition to DS/ATA training, Djiboutian police officers 
have begun training at the International La Enforcement 
Academy (ILEA) in Gaborone, Botswana. Although ILEA 
training is not geared towards countering terrorism, it 
does concentrate on the professional development of 
police managers.  This sort of training will provide the 
Djiboutians with managerial and organizational skills 
that will translate into more effective and traditional 
security operations. 
RAGSDALE