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Viewing cable 06KABUL1844, NEIGHBORS PLEDGE SUPPORT FOR CN COOPERATION AT

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06KABUL1844 2006-04-25 12:01 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Kabul
VZCZCXRO3790
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIK RUEHKUK RUEHMOS RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #1844/01 1151201
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251201Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9787
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 3084
RUEHAH/AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT 5640
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 4815
RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 4723
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 0205
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 3290
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/CJCS WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 001844 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV SNAR AF
SUBJECT: NEIGHBORS PLEDGE SUPPORT FOR CN COOPERATION AT 
REGIONAL CONFERENCE 
 
KABUL 00001844  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
1. Summary: The Acting Afghan Minister of Counternarcotics 
held a Conference April 13 on regional counternarcotics (CN) 
cooperation attended by Iran, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan and 
Turkmenistan; Uzbekistan did not participate.  Political 
statements from regional ambassadors focused on the 
importance of increasing communication between anti-narcotics 
agencies, the evils of the drug trade and the need to 
strengthen border control.  Proposals made by alternative 
livelihood experts included: placing CN liaison officers in 
each foreign embassy in Afghanistan and Afghan CN liaison 
officers in their embassies in neighboring countries, holding 
regular expert level side meetings and establishing an 
official information exchange program.  The law enforcement 
experts proposed: preventing the trafficking of precursor 
chemicals, sharing of law enforcement data and intelligence, 
the signing of MOUs on extradition between regional countries 
and the funding of drug testing labs by donors.  China and 
Iran were the only countries to send experts on alternative 
livelihoods and law enforcement, as well as their 
ambassadors.  This meeting was in preparation for a larger CN 
conference to be held in May.  End Summary. 
 
2. The April 13 Conference on Counternarcotics Cooperation 
was attended by Ambassadors and experts from Pakistan, China 
and the Central Asian Republics.  Political statements were 
made supporting closer cooperation on CN issues, support for 
Afghanistan and greater border control.  Afternoon expert 
sessions were held on alternative livelihoods and law 
enforcement.  A larger conference on CN will be held by the 
Afghan Ministry of Counternarcotics in early May. 
 
Iran 
---- 
 
3. Iranian Ambassador Raza Bahrami, the first envoy to speak, 
expressed his country's strong support for greater regional 
cooperation on CN issues, including the efforts made by the 
GOA, the UN and the UK.  He argued that Afghanistan already 
is a narco-economy, which poses an extreme threat to the 
GOA's stability.  He noted that most neighboring countries 
were now narcotics consuming as well as transit countries. 
Bahrami advised them to focus on practical, implementable 
programs over the long term that focus on eliminating 
cultivation and developing the legal economy in the region. 
His concrete recommendations were: developing markets for 
Afghan products, funding the establishment of industries that 
require Afghan raw materials, micro finance credits, 
aggressive eradication and better border control. 
 
Pakistan 
--------- 
 
4. Pakistan Ambassador Tariq Azizuddin focused on Pakistan's 
problems with the drug trade and CN efforts.  The GOP has 
created a special CN police force, passed a new money 
laundering law and established six new courts for drug 
offenses.  He argued for placing equal emphasis on demand 
reduction as is currently given to eradication and 
trafficking.  He noted that strong cooperation on CN was 
important to Pakistan, with its 6 million addicts. 
 
China 
----- 
 
5. Chinese Ambassador Liu Jian said China strongly supported 
greater regional cooperation against drugs, the greatest 
threat to Afghanistan's stability.  He suggested establishing 
a regular regional liaison channel, and regular bilateral 
meetings to continue working on CN issues.  Jian noted that 
China trained Afghan police in 2005 and in 2006, the Chinese 
Ministry of Public Security will be donating equipment to the 
Afghan police services.  In the future, the GOC will offer 
additional assistance with law enforcement, information 
exchange and experience sharing. 
 
Central Asian Republics 
----------------------- 
 
6. Tajikistan contributed the most to the CN discussion among 
 
KABUL 00001844  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
the Central Asian Republics.  Ambassador Farhad Mahkamov said 
that Tajikistan was active in CN efforts, and would continue 
to arrest traffickers in collaboration with neighboring 
countries.  He thanked the U.S. for its assistance in 
establishing the Tajik CN agency.  Mahkamov recommended 
greater assistance from the international community to create 
a secure monitoring belt along borders.  He also suggested 
greater efforts to fight the trafficking of precursor 
chemicals. 
 
7. Turkmen Ambassador Aman Yaranov admitted to some drug 
trafficking through Turkmenistan.  He argued that CN 
cooperation required a collective approach beyond Afghanistan 
and its neighbors to be successful. 
 
8. No representatives from Uzbekistan attended the 
conference. 
 
Government of Afghanistan 
------------------------- 
 
9. CN Minister Qaderi argued that concrete means of 
cooperation needed to be worked out to achieve success. 
Deputy Foreign Minister Saikal said that the current level of 
communication among countries in the region had not been 
sufficient for successful CN networking and border control. 
He noted the MFA's creation of a new working group for 
regional cooperation that could assist in CN cooperation. 
Deputy Minister of Interior Daud mentioned President Karzai's 
declaration of a jihad against narcotics, and asked for 
additional help in police training to combat trafficking, end 
the precursor chemical trade and improve information 
exchange. 
 
Proposals from Expert Panels 
---------------------------- 
 
10. The alternative livelihoods expert group proposed: 
exploring joint alternative livelihood centers with 
neighboring countries; supporting joint residential experts, 
one in each embassy; regular expert side meetings rotating 
between countries; exchanges, secondments and study tours 
focused on alternative livelihoods; and developing official 
information exchange programs on alternative livelihoods. 
 
11. The law enforcement expert group supported: a call on 
chemical producing countries to follow the 1988 UN resolution 
on CN to prevent the trafficking of chemical precursors; ask 
neighboring countries to increase law enforcement against 
precursors and ask the international community for funds to 
improve capacity in the border police corps; increase 
intelligence sharing among Afghanistan and neighboring 
countries and exchange reports on narcotics seizures; place 
CN liaison officers in regional embassies; establish MOUs for 
extradition and criminal information exchange; and establish 
drug testing labs funded by the donors and the international 
community. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
12. The GOA,s preliminary conference on regional CN 
cooperation was a qualified success in-so-far as all 
neighboring countries except Uzbekistan attended and agreed 
on steps that needed to be taken.  The paucity of substantive 
dialogue was offset by expressions of support for regional 
cooperation.  Increased information exchange and placement of 
CN liaison officers in regional embassies could boost CN 
interdiction and success, but it remains to be seen whether 
Afghanistan and its neighbors will follow through.  Post will 
follow up and encourage participants to take concrete actions 
prior to a larger regional CN conference in early May.  If we 
can obtain solid commitments from regional players, donor 
funding of these proposals could be money well spent. 
 
13. Iran and China may be the neighboring countries most 
likely to work for greater regional CN cooperation, 
considering their strong expressions of support and the fact 
they sent experts for both panels.  Tajikistan also seems 
 
KABUL 00001844  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
committed to CN cooperation, and has made considerable CN 
efforts, but unlike Iran and China, is resource poor and 
requires significant donor assistance.  Uzbekistan,s 
absence, mirrored in several recent regional conferences, 
could prevent successful regional cooperation in the long run. 
NEUMANN