US embassy cable - 05CANBERRA884

C O N F I D E N T I A L CANBERRA 000884 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/CT KCHANDLER, PFUJIMURA AND EAP/ANP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/24/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, PGOV, PK, AS, XC 
SUBJECT: GOA COUNTERTERRORISM UPDATE: RELEASE OF CT BUDGET 
PACKAGE; CT MOU WITH PAKISTAN 
 
REF: CANBERRA 577 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Woo Lee for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Australia augmented its counterterrorism 
efforts in the Asia-Pacific region with its recent 
announcement of a four-year, A$40.3 million (USD$30.6 
million) regional counterterrorism package and with progress 
on a counterterrorism memorandum of understanding (MOU) with 
Pakistan.  The CT funding package focused on boosting 
counterterrorism capacity building among Southeast Asian 
neighbors.  Australian Ambassador for Counterterrorism Les 
Luck has maintained a busy schedule of domestic and 
international travel to promote the GOA's CT programs.  End 
Summary. 
 
Counterterrorism Budget Package 
------------------------------- 
2.  (U) On May 10, Foreign Minister Downer announced a 
four-year, A$40.3 million (USD$30.6 million) regional 
counterterrorism package aimed at countering terrorist links 
and movements between the countries of maritime SE Asia 
(notably the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia).  The 
package also included new measures that build on successful 
regional cooperation in law enforcement, border and transport 
security, intelligence, and legal affairs.  DFAT 
Counterterrorism Cooperation Director Kate Logan on May 20 
briefed poloff on some of the package's major elements: 
 
-- Enhanced law enforcement and intelligence cooperation 
(A$17.6 million over four years); 
 
-- Assistance by the Attorney General's Department (AGD) to 
develop effective counterterrorism legal regimes in SE Asia 
(A$6.8 million over four years); 
 
-- Customs-led assistance to improve border control in 
Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines (A$4.2 million over 
four years); 
 
-- Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous 
Affairs (DIMIA) initiatives to strengthen document fraud 
detection and immigration intelligence capabilities in SE 
Asia (A$11.7 million over four years); and 
 
-- Increased liaison between the Department of Transport and 
Regional Services (DOTARS) and its regional counterparts to 
enhance transport security (A$6.0 million over four years to 
be funded from existing DOTARS resources). 
 
Pakistan CT MOU 
--------------- 
3.  (C) Logan also told poloff that, on the heels of the May 
12 visit to Australia by Pakistani Foreign Minister Kasuri, 
the GOP had provided Australia with comments on a draft 
bilateral CT MOU.  Islamabad had surprised Canberra somewhat 
by taking the initiative in proposing the MOU (ref A).  This 
CT MOU with Pakistan would be Australia's 11th and, although 
the GOP hoped to have an agreement ready for the June 13-16 
visit to Australia by President Musharraf, Logan doubted that 
negotiations would be completed by that time.  The main 
difficulty, she said, was helping Pakistani officials to 
understand Australian legal terminology and cooperation 
frameworks. 
 
CT Ambassador's Travels 
----------------------- 
4.  (C) DFAT Ambassador for Counterterrorism Les Luck 
recently concluded another round of domestic and 
international rounds of travel to promote the GOA's CT 
agenda.  Luck visited the capitals of Indonesia, Thailand, 
the Philippines, and Malaysia from April 26 to May 6 to 
discuss the proposed regional counterterrorism package prior 
to its release.  While in Indonesia, Luck also visited the 
Jakarta Center for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC) in 
Semarang, the GOA's leading CT training and cooperative 
implementation tool in the region.  Luck also completed a 
trip to all the Australian states, during which he briefed 
state governments and local CT stakeholders, such as police 
and emergency responders, on federal CT policies and 
resources upon which