VZCZCXRO9488
PP RUEHAG RUEHROV
DE RUEHMD #0707/01 1081537
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 181537Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2295
INFO RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0079
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 1469
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 0123
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 2624

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MADRID 000707 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
NOFORN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/17/2017 
TAGS: PREL SP IR AF CU AG MO WI IZ KZ UZ
SUBJECT: SPANISH POLDIR: MY TRIPS TO KABUL, TEHRAN, HAVANA, 
NYC 
 
REF: A. STATE 50497 
 
     ¶B. MADRID 687 
     ¶C. STATE 47328 
 
MADRID 00000707  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: DCM Hugo Llorens for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Spanish MFA DG for Policy Rafael Dezcallar 
told DCM on April 17 that his recent trip to Afghanistan left 
him newly optimistic because NATO-ISAF is on the offensive 
and Afghan ministers and troops are starting to play a 
serious role.  He said that the GOS will soon begin an 
initiative to tell its people about NATO's good work in 
Afghanistan.  Based on his recent trip to Iran, which he said 
was coordinated with Javier Solana, Dezcallar said that he 
sees a moment of possibility for negotiations because 
advocates of political solutions have the upper hand both in 
Iran and in the US.  When DCM raised the symbolic importance 
of Moratinos and other FMs at the Iraq Compact signing, 
Dezcallar said that Moratinos hadn't yet made a final 
decision on his participation, but that it would be awkward 
for Moratinos to attend on May 3 but then not be invited to 
the next day's Neighbors meeting. 
 
¶2. (C) SUMMARY (cont'd) Dezcallar reiterated MFA's week-old 
message on the purpose of Foreign Minister Moratinos' trip to 
Cuba, inviting the US to "measure the results" and 
encouraging a private, ongoing US-Spain dialogue on Cuba. 
DCM explained the US concerns about the Cuba trip, telling 
Dezcallar that MFA should expect to hear more about this from 
future Washington visitors.  Regarding Moratinos' recent 
swing through Central Asia as OSCE Chairman, Dezcallar said 
that Moratinos' comments on lifting EU sanctions on 
Uzbekistan were taken out of context but that Spain did 
believe that the sanctions are not useful. He said that 
Moratinos raised the need for Kazakhstan to implement real 
democratic reforms in order to assume the chairmanship in 
¶2009.  Finally, on Western Sahara, Dezcallar welcomed the 
upcoming visit of NEA DAS Gordon Gray and said that, with one 
minor difference - Spain prefers direct UN involvement - 
Spain and the US agree on the way forward.  END SUMMARY. 
 
-- AFGHANISTAN -- 
 
¶3. (C/NF) After spending five days in Afghanistan, Dezcallar 
said that he is more optimistic about the situation than he 
was after his last trip.  He said that NATO-ISAF has the 
offensive, unlike last fall, and judged that both the 
Afghanistan's ministers and its army are becoming real 
forces.  Dezcallar praised the Ministers of Education and 
Rural Development, as well as the Minister of Defense, whose 
training program he said that Spain will help.  He noted the 
importance of US efforts to train and equip the Afghan army, 
including a major military aid program, and said that he'd 
had a good meeting with ISAF commander GEN McNeil.  (COMMENT: 
 Spanish CHOD GEN Sanz recently pulled aside the Ambassador 
at a social event to tell him that Spain is pleased with GEN 
McNeil, especially in comparison to his predecessor.  END 
COMMENT).  Dezcallar said that across Afghanistan he saw more 
infrastructure and more commerce, and said that while the 
situation is still difficult, it is improving.  He said that 
the GOS will soon start a public diplomacy offensive, 
including an op-ed from the Spanish aid director, more press 
coverage of people who have worked in the Spanish PRT, and a 
conference in Barcelona to highlight the positive work of the 
PRT to help the public understand the good work that Spain is 
doing. 
 
¶4. (C) DCM thanked Spain for its commitment to Afghanistan. 
He said that Post has heard from the FSO at the Spanish PRT 
that it is a model for civil-military cooperation.  Dezcallar 
said that part of the purpose of his recent trip, on which he 
was accompanied by his MOD counterpart, was to demonstrate 
this unity of purpose between MFA, MOD, and the Spanish aid 
agency AECI.  He said that he believes that the EU will begin 
providing training for the Afghan police, with a program 
would probably start small and then grow.  Dezcallar said 
that Spanish troops had been involved in ISAF's recent 
offensive Operation Achilles, reinforcing the border between 
Nimroz and Farah provinces.  He noted that while the career 
military and diplomatic officials had accepted the military 
rationale for Spanish participation in the operation, they 
had to work hard to convince President Zapatero. 
 
-- IRAN -- 
 
¶5. (C) Dezcallar said that he had gone to Tehran principally 
to try to ensure stability in the Afghan provinces where Iran 
 
MADRID 00000707  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
has influence and Spain has troops.  He said that he had 
coordinated the trip with Javier Solana and the EU. 
Dezcallar said that the trip reminded him that the Iranian 
power structure is not monolithic.  He said that recent 
signs, including the political resolution of the British 
Marines issue and the emptiness of Ahmadinejad's recent 
nuclear announcement, indicate to him that the pragmatists 
have the upper hand at the moment.  Dezcallar said that there 
is a Swiss proposal on the table that calls for a 30-day 
discussion of terms followed by a six-month "timeout" that 
could involve the suspension of both Iranian activities and 
UN sanctions.  If this proposal were to move forward, a 
possibility that Dezcallar termed "difficult," the next step 
would be a Larijani-Solana meeting.  He said that the US 
would participate in discussions of this issue in London on 
May 2, noting that both recent US signs of flexibility and 
the Russian decision to suspend nuclear cooperation had help 
move Iran towards this potentially promising moment.  DCM 
emphasized the US's willingness to talk to Iran at anytime, 
once Iran suspends its nuclear and enrichment activities, but 
said that meanwhile the international community needs to 
continue to pressure Iran and unify its commitment to ending 
Iran's nuclear activities.  DCM also noted Post's 
encouragement of the Ministry of Economy to move faster to 
freeze the assets of Bank Sepah under UNSC 1747. 
 
¶6. (C) On his conversations with Iran about Afghanistan, 
Dezcallar said that Iran is supporting both the anti-Karzai 
National Front and the Karzai government.  On Lebanon, he 
said that Iran had reached an agreement with Saudi Arabia 
regarding the formation of a government that complied with 
UNSC 1711 and the format of elections, but that Iran was 
concerned that the US was blocking the agreement.  Dezcallar 
had the sense from the Iranians that it would be hard to get 
the two Israeli soldiers released without this agreement.  On 
the Palestinian Authority, he said that the Iranians were 
insistent that the current government be recognized.  On 
Iraq, Dezcallar said that the Iranians told him that they 
continue to strongly support PM Maliki and democracy, and 
blame "Iraq's neighbors" for the violence.  Dezcallar said 
that he would be happy to have more detailed discussions 
about his trip with Undersecretary Burns or others in 
Washington or Europe.  The DCM said he would pass on 
Dezcallar's offer. 
 
-- INTERNATIONAL COMPACT WITH IRAQ -- 
 
¶7. (C) Per ref A, DCM discussed with Dezcallar the 
Secretary's message regarding the importance of FM Moratinos' 
 
SIPDIS 
attendance at the International Compact with Iraq (ICI) 
signing on May 3.  Dezcallar said that Spain is committed to 
the future of Iraq, and that he himself had been involved in 
the early discussions of the ICI.  While Moratinos has not 
yet decided if he will attend the signing, Dezcallar said 
that it would be awkward for the Minister to attend the 
signing but then leave while all his colleagues stayed to 
continue their discussions during the Neighbors' meeting on 
May 4 to which he had not been invited. 
 
-- CUBA -- 
 
¶8. (C) Dezcallar, who accompanied Moratinos and Secretary of 
State for Latin America Trinidad Jimenez to Havana, 
reiterated the explanation that Jimenez made to DCM (ref B). 
He said that given Fidel's illness and the failure of EU 
sanctions, it was time for Spain to try something new. 
Dezcallar said that Fidel appears to have assumed a position 
of a "Queen Mother" and that Raul and other leaders seem 
ready for an evolution in Cuba's economic policy, following a 
path that is more Vietnam than China.  He admitted that the 
trip hadn't immediately accomplished much for Spain, but said 
that through its new engagement, Spain would be able to exert 
influence and push for "Western values" as the Cuban 
transition advanced.  Dezcallar said that the trip would have 
to be judged based on what happens in the future, and called 
for ongoing - discreet - coordination between the US and 
Spain. 
 
¶9. (C) DCM emphasized Washington's deep disappointment with 
the trip, which was not only a surprise but even a bit of a 
spectacle as world power Spain's FM went to Cuba and came 
away with nothing.  He noted that Moratinos didn't meet with 
dissidents, and didn't even try to correct the record when 
Cuban FM Perez Roque called the dissidents "mercenaries" in 
the pay of the US.  DCM said senior US officials would 
continue to raise Cuba in future meetings with counterparts. 
Dezcallar insisted that while Moratinos had not met with 
 
MADRID 00000707  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
dissidents during this trip, the GOS (DG Javier Sandomingo) 
had.  He said that Spain has forced Cuba to accept that it 
will maintain a relationship not only with the Cuban 
government but with its people. 
 
-- OSCE/MORATINOS IN CENTRAL ASIA -- 
 
¶10. (C) Regarding Moratinos' recent trip through six central 
Asian countries as OSCE chairman, DCM said that Washington 
was surprised by Moratinos' comments in support of lifting EU 
sanctions on Uzbekistan.  Dezcallar said that he had not been 
on the trip, but that the comments were out of context.  He 
said that EU's pressure on Uzbekistan had not been useful, in 
fact making life difficult for the German mission to 
Afghanistan, and that it was time to reconsider the 
sanctions.  Separately, DCM reminded Dezcallar of the need to 
see real progress by Kazakhstan on implementing democratic 
reforms in order to be seriously considered for the 2009 OSCE 
chairmanship, and asked if Moratinos had made progress on 
that issue.  Dezcallar said that Moratinos did raise the 
issue of reform, and referred DCM to DG for North America and 
Europe Pons for more details on the trip. 
 
-- WESTERN SAHARA -- 
 
¶11. (C) Laying the groundwork for NEA DAS Gordon Gray's 
upcoming visit, DCM reviewed ref C points on the way ahead 
for negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario over 
Western Sahara.  Dezcallar said that the US and Spain are in 
agreement, except that Spain prefers that the UN be directly 
involved in the talks. 
 
-- NEW YORK -- 
 
¶12. (C) Dezcallar said that he'd gone to New York to discuss 
the naming of Portuguese ex-president Sampaio as the UNSYG's 
High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations.  He 
stressed that, while Spain originally preferred a candidate 
from the Middle East, Sampaio is well respected and has a 
good understanding of that part of the world.  He noted that 
ultimately, it would be the UNSYG's choice, not Spain or 
Turkey's.  Dezcallar asked if the Department had made a 
decision on which Alliance of Civilizations project it would 
support. 
Aguirre