US embassy cable - 05THEHAGUE2756

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 THE HAGUE 002756 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR DASD WHELAN 
STATE FOR THE DEPUTY SECRETARY AND S/CRS 
STATE ALSO FOR EUR/UBI/REITER 
USEU FOR LERNER AND BRENNER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, PREL, KHIV, NL, XA 
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR DASD THERSA WHELAN'S VISIT TO THE 
HAGUE 
 
REF: THE HAGUE 2446 
 
1. Your visit to The Hague comes at a time when the GONL is 
broadening its already substantial aid to Africa and is 
boosting its efforts in security assistance and reform. 
The Ministries of Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Development 
are pursuing joint SSR and DDR initiatives in Africa and have 
created a Security Task Force to address failed and failing 
states. Your interlocutors will be eager to discuss these 
recent initiatives.  Your visit also comes on the heels of PM 
Balkenende's and Development Minister Van Ardenne's joint 
visit to Mali and Nigeria, where they developed a curriculum 
for training of West African officers in peacekeeping and 
negotiated installing an officer to the War College at Abuja. 
 FM Bot visited South Africa October 10 and 11, where he 
signed an agreement allowing the South Africans to make more 
use of Dutch military training capabilities and exercise 
opportunities.  The Dutch see Rwanda and South Africa as key 
elements in regional solutions to African security issues. 
Other countries prominent on the GONL's radar screen are 
Sudan and Burundi; the Dutch are particularly interested in 
doing more to protect women in conflict situations, most 
urgently in Darfur.  Your visit also follows Defense Minister 
Kamp's synopsis of Dutch military involvement in Africa in a 
letter he presented to Parliament on October 4. 
 
DUTCH INITIATIVES IN AFRICA: TOPICAL FOCUS 
------------------------------------------ 
 
2. The Dutch rank as the world's sixth most generous aid 
donor; last year they gave about 0.8 percent of GDP ($4.2 
billion), approximately half to Africa.  Dutch aid to Africa 
has historically focused on health and environmental 
programs, including AIDS and water projects where the U.S. 
and the Netherlands cooperate closely.  In recent years, the 
Dutch have broadened their focus to include security sector 
reform (SSR) and disarmament, demobilization and 
reintegration (DDR), notably in Sudan and the DRC.  In 2003, 
Development Minister Van Ardenne launched a Stability Fund 
with a budget of $132 million to fund SSR and DDR activities 
in the African Great Lakes and Horn of Africa, as well as the 
Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq.  The Fund's budget could grow 
next year, if Parliament responds favorably to a planned 
review. 
 
3. The Dutch are soliciting participation in SSR activities 
from their multilateral partners; Van Ardenne recently 
lobbied the OECD Development Assistance Committee to broaden 
definitions of development assistance with the aim of 
including more SSR related programs.  The Dutch are no less 
enthusiastic about bilateral cooperation in SSR/DDR.  In his 
address to Parliament, Kamp promoted the MOD's role in SSR 
and DDR initiatives and underscored his enthusiasm for 
initiatives involving international partners.  Kamp explained 
that the MOD is creating a pool of 60 military experts to 
respond on short notice to pressing areas of SSR and to be 
deployed on foreign missions. To facilitate these 
deployments, the MOD is working with the MFA to create a 
training program. 
 
4. Last January, Kamp and van Ardenne announced the formation 
of a joint Security Task Force (similar to State's Office of 
the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization), to 
identify and prepare for failing and failed states.  In his 
letter to parliament, Kamp highlighted the Task Force's role 
of facilitating MOD participation in reconstruction efforts, 
particularly crisis management, international crime, 
terrorism, and refugee issues.  As a next step, the GONL 
plans to launch a public diplomacy effort to promote its 
security for development policy, especially to skeptics 
within the Netherlands' influential NGO community. 
 
DUTCH MILITARY INITIATIVES IN AFRICA: REGIONAL FOCUS 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
Sudan 
----- 
 
5. The Netherlands was one of the earliest and most generous 
humanitarian aid donors to Darfur.  In 2004 the Dutch gave 
$61 million to aid refugees in Sudan and Chad. The GONL 
pledged approximately $62 million for Darfur-related 
humanitarian assistance in 2005 and promised more, if needed. 
 At the April donor conference in Oslo, the GONL pledged $217 
million over the next three years to fund Sudanese 
reconstruction and support for the Comprehensive Peace 
Agreement (CPA). Of this amount, $180 million will go to the 
UN Multi-Donor Trust Fund.  The remaining $37 million is 
earmarked for SSR/DDR in Southern Sudan. 
 
6. The Netherlands supports the African Union Mission in 
Sudan (AMIS) both financially (over 14 million euros from the 
Stability Fund) and with experts furnished via the EU.  The 
MOD expects to post a military officer to AMIS HQ soon.  The 
Dutch are also valuable partners in the International 
Military Advisory Team (IMAT) framework for Sudan.  The MOD 
provides two officials to the IMAT and financial support 
through the Stability Fund.  The Dutch also provide two 
officers to the CENTCOM Task Force for the Horn of Africa, 
based in Djibouti. 
 
7. The Dutch government is considering the circumstances 
under which the Netherlands would contribute observers to the 
United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).  A joint MFA-MOD 
fact-finding  mission visited Sudan August 27-September 6. 
The results of that mission will inform the Dutch decision 
whether a contribution of military observers is viable. 
 
8. The Dutch are also strongly interested in boosting 
international efforts to combat sexual violence against women 
in conflict situations, a particular interest of Development 
Minister van Ardenne.  The Dutch Embassy in Khartoum has 
'gender security' program funds that they may contribute to 
efforts to protect women in Darfur. 
 
DRC 
--- 
 
9. The Dutch have devoted substantial expertise to 
peacekeeping and SSR activities in the Democratic Republic of 
Congo (DRC).  A UN-detached Dutch General is deputy force 
commander of the United Nations Mission on the DRC (MONUC) 
and division commander of the eastern MONUC division.  In 
addition, a Dutch General was recently posted to Kinshasa to 
supervise a 5 million euro grant to implement SSR activities 
in the DRC and to act as a liaison to the EU-SSR "EUSEC" 
mission.  The Netherlands has also provided a military police 
officer to the European "EUPOL" mission that trains the 
Congolese police.  In his letter to Parliament, Kamp asserted 
that this number will increase to two officers next year. The 
GONL is debating whether to expand its support of MONUC 
activities and/or SSR in Eastern Congo in particular. Various 
deployment options and modalities are being considered. 
 
Burundi 
------- 
 
10. The Netherlands contributed one of the three western 
officers to the UN "ONUB" mission in Burundi.  Kamp's letter 
to Parliament highlighted the fact that, earlier this year, a 
Dutch colonel and an MFA official participated for three 
months in a bilateral demobilization project in Burundi 
financed from the Stability Fund.  As a gesture of 
appreciation for the progress of the peace process in Burundi 
and the orderly outcome of the first elections, Development 
Minister Van Ardenne offered the new Burundi government to 
help set up a school for peace operations.  Van Ardenne's 
offer came on condition that a comprehensive peace accord is 
first signed between the Burundi government and the FNL, and 
the GOB commit to maintain such a school in the long term. 
The MOD plans to contribute to this project. 
 
AFRICAN MILITARY PARTNERS 
------------------------- 
 
10. Kamp's letter underscored the MOD's interest in engaging 
African countries, particularly Rwanda and South Africa, as 
military partners.  The MOD donated 175,000 euros of 
transport assistance, medical supplies, and training to 
Rwandan AMIS troops in Darfur.  The Dutch have also offered 
air transport to 750 South African troops scheduled to take 
part in an AMIS deployment.  Moreover, the MOD is engaging 
both of these countries in crisis management operations.  An 
agreement on cooperation with South Africa was finalized 
during FM Bot's visit to South Africa October 10-11.  The 
agreement underscores Dutch interest in promoting "African 
ownership" of peacekeeping responsibilities and emphasizes 
South Africa's role as "an exporter of stability" in Africa. 
The Dutch are particularly interested in engaging the South 
Africans on SSR efforts in the DRC.  Kamp recently signed an 
MOU with his counterpart in Kigali on bilateral military 
cooperation that focuses on assisting Rwandan armed forces to 
carry out crisis management operations in Africa. 
 
DUTCH MILITARY EXERCISES IN AFRICA 
---------------------------------- 
 
11. The Dutch plan to generally expand their military 
exercise activities in Africa in order to remain prepared for 
deployment.  In September, 500 Dutch Air Mobile Brigade 
Troops participated in the international "Bright Star 2005" 
exercise in Egypt.  This fall, 225 troops will participate in 
the international "Green Osprey 05" exercise in Senegal. 
 
AREAS FOR FUTURE COOPERATION 
---------------------------- 
 
12. Dutch military police have conducted Iraqi police 
training.  While there are no plans to continue that program, 
the force could be equally adept at training African 
peacekeepers and airport and sea-port police in post-crisis 
countries. 
 
13. Kamp's demonstrated enthusiasm for international 
cooperation in the field of DDR/SSR underscores the potential 
for joint U.S.- Dutch initiatives. Specifically, the Dutch 
could potentially complement our efforts to transform the 
Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army (SPLA) into a conventional 
force with some of the elements that sanctions prohibit us 
from providing, namely, trainers and troop support items. 
There may also be potential for Dutch participation with the 
ACOTA program and with HIV/AIDS initiatives in the DRC. 
Dutch interest in women's issues makes them good potential 
counterparts for joint initiatives countering sexual violence 
in Africa, particularly in Sudan. 
BLAKEMAN