VZCZCXRO5587
PP RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTA #3272/01 2610644
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 180644Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY ALMATY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6960
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//ASD-ISP/TSP-CP/CTR/ATSD-NCB-NT//
RHMFIUU/DTRA CT WASHINGTON DC//CTB
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 2074
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0256
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0381

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ALMATY 003272 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN (M. O'MARA) 
 
NSC FOR MILLARD, MERKEL 
 
E.O. 193056: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PARM EINV ENRG SNAR IQ KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: BOUCHER AND TAZHIN COVER AFGHANISTAN, 
NONPROLIFERATION, NARCOTICS AND THE CASPIAN 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Kazakhstan will send a survey team to 
Afghanistan in September to examine ways to support 
reconstruction, Security Council secretary Tazhin told 
Assistant Secretary Boucher during a September 8 meeting. 
Boucher welcomed the news and encouraged Kazakhstan to look 
at assistance projects and participation in a Provincial 
Reconstruction Team.  Tazhin raised a series of non- 
proliferation issues, confirmed another rotation of troops 
would be sent to Iraq in the near future, and highlighted 
Kazakhstan's desire to obtain a naval vessel for security 
operations on the Caspian.  Boucher informed Tazhin that the 
U.S. would soon fund a feasibility study for a Trans-Caspian 
Gas Pipeline, and encouraged him to support the legal view 
that the agreement of only the states where such a pipeline 
would begin and end was necessary.  Finally, Tazhin 
highlighted the need for increased counternarcotics 
cooperation.  The Ambassador informed him that the U.S. had 
invited top Kazakhstani counternarcotics officials to 
Washington in December for discussions.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central 
Asian Affairs Richard Boucher met on September 8 in Astana 
with Security Council secretary Marat Tazhin.  The 
Ambassador and Pol-Econ chief (notetaker) were also present. 
From the Kazakhstani side, head of the MFA's European 
Cooperation Department Yerkin Akinzhanov, head of the MFA's 
Europe and Americas Department Serzhan Abdykarimov, and 
Security Council official Saidmurat Tanirbergen also 
participated. 
 
¶3. (U) A/S Boucher opened the meeting by noting that the 
U.S. government was looking forward to receiving President 
Nazarbayev in Washington later this month, as well as to 
Foreign Minister Tokayev's presence at the UN General 
Assembly session in New York.  Boucher said that he hoped to 
use his meetings in Astana to discuss issues related to the 
Nazarbayev visit, which the U.S. believes will be successful 
due to the deepening and broadening of the bilateral 
relationship in recent years. 
 
------------------------------------- 
Afghanistan: Survey Team in September 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Tazhin said that he was ready to respond to a 
number of issues that the U.S. had raised with the 
Kazakhstani government in recent months, beginning with 
Afghanistan.  The Kazakhstani government had formed a survey 
team which would visit Kazakhstan in September to examine 
ways to support reconstruction.  Tanirbergen would represent 
the Security Council on the team.  There were two sets of 
problems to examine, Tazhin stated: security and the 
economic aspect.  Kazakhstan needed to understand how it 
could protect its people, as well as the scale and type of 
assistance needed.  Tazhin underscored the need for a clear 
idea of what the actual results of Kazakhstani assistance 
might be in the current environment.  He said that the 
Kazakhstani government would have a definite position on 
participation following the survey team's visit. 
 
¶5. (SBU) A/S Boucher welcomed the news of the survey team, 
noting that the President would be glad to hear of a 
Kazakhstani decision to take part in a Provincial 
Reconstruction Team.  There were a variety of these teams 
operating in Afghanistan, Boucher noted, some in more 
dangerous areas and some where the situation was calmer. 
The Provincial Reconstruction Teams are an important tool to 
help the Afghan government push its presence out to the 
regions. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Economic development is another important aspect of 
bringing the benefits of government to the population, 
Boucher added.  There was much work to be done in the 
priority areas of roads, electricity, and training.  A/S 
Boucher noted that he had shared a list of possible projects 
with Ambassador Saudabayev in Washington; the U.S. assumed 
that Kazakhstan would likely be most interested in projects 
such as roads and electricity that support regional 
integration.  We hoped that there would be good news on 
 
ALMATY 00003272  002 OF 003 
 
 
Kazakhstani engagement in Afghanistan during President 
Nazarbayev's visit to Washington. 
 
------------------------ 
Non-Proliferation Issues 
------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) Tazhin informed A/S Boucher that Kazakhstan had 
taken steps to increase security at the Semipalatinsk test 
site in response to concerns expressed by the U.S.  He 
stated that "according to the original agreement," 
Kazakhstan linked the transfer of pathogen strains to the 
U.S. to the construction of a Central Reference Laboratory, 
which had now been pushed back to 2009.  Tazhin said that 
Kazakhstan could discuss strain transfer "only when the U.S. 
had fulfilled its obligations."  Turning to Stepnogorsk, 
Tazhin repeated well-known complaints regarding the failed 
defense conversion project to establish a pharmaceutical 
tableting line in the mid-1990s.  He claimed that there had 
been no response to the GOK's December 2005 diplomatic note 
on the issue. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The Ambassador welcomed the assurances regarding 
security at Semipalatinsk.  He pushed back on the strain 
transfer issue, noting that the Biological Threat Reduction 
program consisted of two independent parts:  cooperative 
joint research on pathogens, and efforts to improve 
Kazakhstan's ability to detect and protect pathogens.  The 
U.S. sees no logic in linking the two areas of cooperation, 
and had in fact explicitly rejected a linkage between strain 
transfer and construction of the Central Reference 
Laboratory during negotiation of the agreement.  Finally, 
the Ambassador noted, construction of the laboratory had 
been pushed back due to repeated delays in negotiations by 
the Kazakhstani side.  A decision to remove the equipment at 
Stepnogorsk had been taken, the Ambassador added; he would 
look into the status of the formal reply. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Iraq:  Presence Becoming More Difficult 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Tazhin told A/S Boucher that the Kazakhstani 
government was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain 
a contingent in Iraq due to the worsening security situation 
and rising domestic pressure.  Kazakhstani troops had been 
fired on five days before.  Nevertheless, Tazhin said, 
Kazakhstan will send another rotation of troops to Iraq in a 
few days.  He noted that Kazakhstan's contribution in Iraq 
was primarily political.  Boucher told Tazhin that the U.S. 
welcomes the presence of Kazakhstani troops in Iraq and was 
working to ensure the best possible security for them.  He 
stressed that Kazakhstan's contribution was not just 
political; the contingent was doing extremely important 
ordinance disposal work that had saved many lives.  The 
Ambassador added that the U.S. was working to ensure that 
General Sembinov would have good meetings regarding the 
security situation when he accompanied the next rotation to 
Iraq. 
 
---------------- 
Caspian Security 
---------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Kazakhstan was pleased with the level of 
cooperation with the U.S. on Caspian Security, Tazhin said, 
particularly the dialogue between the Ministry of Defense 
and the Department of Defense.  Kazakhstan was interested in 
obtaining a 1,000 ton naval vessel within the framework of 
U.S. assistance.  A/S Boucher confirmed that the U.S. was 
aware of Kazakhstan's interest in obtaining a naval vessel 
and was examining the question. 
 
¶11. (SBU) A/S Boucher noted that the U.S. was close to 
approving funding for a feasibility study on the Trans- 
Caspian Gas Pipeline.  After careful analysis of the legal 
situation, Boucher said, the U.S. firmly believed that only 
the agreement of the countries where the pipeline begins and 
ends is necessary.  Russia and Iran were claiming that all 
 
ALMATY 00003272  003 OF 003 
 
 
states bordering the Caspian had to agree, which would make 
the plan impossible to implement and undercut President 
Nazarbayev's strategic objective of diversifying 
Kazakhstan's energy export routes.  Boucher encouraged 
Tazhin to ensure that Kazakhstan pushed back against this 
legal view.  Tazhin said that Kazakhstan had consulted 
numerous maritime law experts and agreed completely with the 
position Boucher had expressed.  Unfortunately the idea was 
becoming prevalent that while littoral states control their 
own portion of the Caspian shoreline, all controlled the 
seabed in common, Tazhin noted.  This would lead to disputes 
among the Caspian states, he said.  A/S Boucher offered 
consultations with U.S. maritime law experts. 
 
---------------- 
Counternarcotics 
---------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Tazhin highlighted the seriousness of the problem 
of narcotics trafficking for Kazakhstan, noting that drug 
use was rising among Kazakhstanis.  With Afghanistan so 
near, Tazhin explained, Kazakhstan was unable to fight the 
problem on its own; international assistance was required. 
The international community was just "watching the process 
calmly," Tazhin claimed.  He told A/S Boucher that the 
Kazakhstani government's strategy was to target large 
narcotics traffickers.  Tazhin highlighted the need to 
combat narcotrafficking before "political spheres" became 
involved, as had happened in neighboring regions.  Boucher 
responded that the U.S. considered counternarcotics 
cooperation with Kazakhstan to be quite strong, but was 
always searching for ways to strengthen it.  The Ambassador 
added that the U.S. had invited Minister of Interior 
Mukhamedzhanov and other senior officials to Washington in 
early December for meetings with U.S. counterparts to 
discuss cooperation on drug trafficking and demand 
reduction. 
 
ORDWAY