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Cablegate: Austrian Response to Uk Request for Afghan

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS VIENNA 000975

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR SA/A, INL, EUR/ERA, EUR/PGI AND EUR/AGS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL SNAR AF UK AU EUN
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN RESPONSE TO UK REQUEST FOR AFGHAN
COUNTERNARCOTICS ASSISTANCE

REF: STATE 039676

This message is Sensitive But Unclassified. Please treat
accordingly.

1. (SBU) After coordinating with our British colleagues,
EconPolCouns presented reftel points on March 23 to Johannes
Froehlich, Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Justice
and Home Affairs Division, and Wolfgang Spadinger, Head of
the Foreign Ministry's Office for International Cooperation
in Drug Control, Crime Prevention, and Counterterrorism.
Froehlich confirmed the Austrian government received the
February 28 letter from British Foreign Secretary Straw and
Secretary of State for International Development Benn.

SIPDIS
Froehlich said the matter is currently pending action by the
Foreign Ministry's Asian bureau. Froehlich and Spadinger
were noncommittal on additional Austrian support to the
Afghanistan Counter Narcotics Trust Fund. Instead, they
cited Austria's 2002 contribution of six million Euros in
assistance to Afghanistan for demining, the advancement of
women, and counternarcotics efforts.

2. (SBU) Froehlich and Spadinger echoed U.S. and UK concerns
about the substantial increase in Afghan narcotics
cultivation. They agreed that the international community
must support reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan to ensure
the country's future. Spadinger noted that Austrian
participation in a project to establish an Afghan
counternarcotics police force is entering its third year. He
added that Austria is contributing to efforts to strengthen
Afghanistan's judiciary system.

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3. (SBU) Froehlich and Spadinger stressed that Austria
continues to focus on counternarcotics efforts in Central
Asia. In particular, Austria plays a leading role in the
European Union's Border Management Program for Central Asia
(BOMCA) and in the Paris Pact and the UN Office on Drugs and
Crime (UNODC). According to Spadinger, Austria relies on its
cooperation with the UNODC to engage Kabul on
counternarcotics efforts.

4. (SBU) UK Embassy officer William Gatward told us that the
UK Ambassador had raised the issue with the Austrian Foreign
Minister's chef du cabinet, Michael Zimmermann, on March 18.
Zimmermann had said that Austria would take a closer look at
the Trust Fund once the Afghan Government provided more
details. Gatward added that the Austrians had indicated that
they are scaling back their development programs outside of
Southeast Europe and Austria's twenty priority countries
(which does not include Afghanistan).
Brown

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