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DE RUEHTC #1952/01 3031532
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O 301532Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0631
INFO RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
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RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 001952 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR ISN/CB, VCI/CCB, L/ACV, IO/S, 
SECDEF FOR OSD/ISP 
JOINT STAFF FOR DD PMA-A FOR WTC 
COMMERCE FOR BIS (GOLDMAN) 
NSC FOR LEDDY 
WINPAC FOR WALTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM PREL CWC
SUBJECT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): SCENESETTER FOR 
THE TWELFTH CONFERENCE OF THE STATES PARTIES 
 
This is CWC-85-07. 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
¶1.  (SBU) The November 5-9 Conference of the States Parties 
will either be extremely hectic or rather uneventful.  When 
Executive Council 50 passed the 2008 budget, expectations for 
a meeting of the EC during the Conference faded.  Del 
believes an EC meeting will be necessary during the week of 
the Conference if several substantive items are ready for CSP 
consideration.  Current consultations on Article VI (late 
declarations and transfer discrepancies), Article VII 
Implementation, and Universality are all bogged down by 
Iranian and NAM delaying tactics while they push for an 
Article XI action plan that western delegates are blocking. 
Delegations are beginning to realize that the agenda is very 
thin unless there is forward movement on these consultations 
and some would like to have more to show than a budget for 
this anniversary year.  Del expects decisions are possible, 
but will probably require significant last minute work to 
conclude.  Lobbying for the chairmanship of the Review 
Conference is likely to be active during the Conference, but 
the Secretariat is proposing that no action is required by 
the CSP but only a report by the Chair of the Open Ended 
Working Group to the next regular session of the Executive 
Counil that the chair will rotate to the Asian regional 
group.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Elections of CSP and RevCon Officers and EC Members 
(Agenda Items 2, 3, 12) 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
¶2.  (SB)    The African group,s choice of Sudan as the chair 
of the Conference of States Parties has been controversial, 
both within the group and outside.  The African group held a 
meeting October 19 to reconsider its earlier decision but did 
not take action.  Del expects the grumbling will continue but 
that Sudanese Ambassador Idris,s election will not be 
opposed in the Conference itself. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) There has been even more buzz about the rotation of 
the Review Conference chair and what procedures are required 
(or not) to achieve it.  There is widespread agreement that 
the five-year schedule of the review conference, which would 
have Africa chair it every time among the five regional 
groups, is not equitable.  Most delegations agree that the 
RevCon chair should rotate to Asia in 2008, but there is 
little agreement about how that should be done, and great 
concern among the WEOG and others about an Iranian candidacy. 
 The latest interpretation from the Technical Secretariat is 
that the Review Conference is a unique special conference 
that should elect its own officers, quite apart from the 
annual Conference of States Parties.  The TS recently 
proposed to the Chairman of the Open Ended Working Group for 
the Review Conference, Amb. Lyn Parker (UK), that no action 
is necessary by the CSP, but that the OEWG chairman should 
report on the expected rotation to the next Executive Council 
at its next regular session so that the regional groups can 
choose candidates for all RevCon offices well before the 
April dates of the RevCon. 
 
¶4.  (U) Election of new Executive Council members to begin 
their terms in May 2008 will probably be routine.  Full lists 
of candidates are not yet available, but notable among early 
reports is that Iran and Cuba are seeking re-election. Del 
will send lists of candidates when received. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Status of Implementation (Agenda Item 9) 
---------------------------------------- 
¶5.  (SBU) A/S DeSutter,s address to the Conference should be 
the highlight of this agenda item on Wednesday morning. 
 
------------ 
Article VII 
------------ 
¶6. (SBU) There is virtually no chance of an agreement on an 
 
Article VII decision document by the start of the CSP. 
Facilitator Kimmo Laukkanen (Finland) has tried to 
accommodate opposing positions but has failed to lead the 
consultations toward agreement on the issues, with sessions 
getting bogged down in wordsmithing details.  Iran has 
repeatedly noted that they have not even agreed that the 
consultation is working on a  decision, that the draft 
document may be only report language.  Iranian delegate also 
informed a recent session that one &concrete wall8 may face 
another, a reference to the NAM,s insistence on linking 
Articles VII and XI. South African delegate told Del reps 
after the same meeting that there will be no action on 
Article VII unless agreement can be reached on action on 
Article XI. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Programme and Budget for 2008  (Agenda Item 13) 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
¶7.  (U) With EC-50,s recommendation that the budget be 
approved,  this agenda item will likely be quickly adopted 
with little if any debate. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
Article XI (Item 17 Fostering International Cooperation) 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
¶8. (SBU) The decision by the Tenth Session Conference 
requesting the Council to report on the full implementation 
of Article XI at each regular session was extended for 
another year by the Eleventh Session of the Conference. 
Facilitator Li Hong (China) has continued the consultations, 
but there is no resolution to the impasse between the NAM,s 
insistence on an action plan, and western reluctance to agree 
to a plan before its contents are known.  Iran and Cuba, 
claiming to speak for the NAM, continue to link an action 
plan on Article XI with any movement on strengthening Article 
VII implementation.  We expect no real movement on either 
until late in the Conference.  Despite attempts to de-link 
the two issues, progress on either will depend on a broader 
deal that includes the other one. 
 
----------------------- 
Universality (Item 18) 
----------------------- 
¶9. (SBU) While universality should be an apple pie 
resolution, the Iranians are holding up the consultations 
with extraneous additions to the text.  Facilitator Said 
Moussi (Algeria) is cheerfully continuing informal and formal 
consultations, but this item may also need to be part of a 
comprehensive agreement on the other Articles to have final 
text in time for the CSP to consider. 
 
------------------ 
OTHER AGENDA ITEMS 
------------------ 
¶10.  (U) The following are other substantive items on the CSP 
agenda: 
 
Item 7 - DG Statement: Delegation will provide a copy when it 
becomes available. 
 
Item 8 - General Debate: A draft national statement for 
Ambassador Javits has been E-mailed to Washington. 
 
Item 9(b)- Approval is expected of the DG's report on 
handling of confidential information. 
 
Item 9(c) ) The Conference is expected to note the Director 
General,s report on progress made in the destruction of 
chemical weapons. 
 
Item 10 - Report of the OPCW on the implementation of the 
Convention should be approved with no debate. 
 
Item 11 - Report of the EC should be approved with no debate. 
 
Item 14 ) Scale of Assessments: The document has not yet 
been distributed to delegations. 
 
Item 15 ) External Auditor,s report should be approved with 
no debate. 
 
Item 16 ) Administrative and financial matters: 
 
-- 16.1  CSP will likely note the report by the Director 
General on OPCW income and expenditure for the financial year 
to 30 June 2007. 
 
-- 16.2  CSP should note the DG,s note on the use of the 
Working Capital Fund for the financial year to 30 September 
¶2007. 
 
-- 16.3  CSP should approve proposed multi-year payment plans 
from Moldova and Guatemala. 
 
-- 16.4  CSP should note the report on the status of 
implementation of agreed multi-year payment plans. 
 
-- 16.5 CSP will likely note the annual report of the Office 
of Internal Oversight. 
 
-- 16.6 CSP is expected to approve the alignment of OPCW 
staff regulation 3.2 on educational allowances with the 
corresponding UN staff regulation. 
 
-- 16.7 CSP will likely note the DG's note on transfers of 
funds between programmes in 2007. 
 
 
Item 19 ) Establishment of an OPCW Office in Africa: 
EC 50 welcomed the DG,s initiative in developing a new 
Programme to Strengthen Cooperation with Africa and agreed to 
the need for a new facilitator and continuing work by an Open 
Ended Working Group.  Del expects the CSP to follow this 
line, although there may be debate calling for more specific 
actions or deadlines. 
 
Item 20 - Reports of subsidiary bodies: 
 
-- 20.1 is the report of the Committee of the Whole. 
 
-- 20.2 is the report of the General Committee. 
 
-- 20.3 is the report of the Confidentiality Commission. 
 
-- 20.4 is the report of the Credentials Committee. 
 
Item 21 ) Any other business: CSP is expected to note a 
report by the Host Country Committee. 
 
Item 22 ) Dates and duration of the next regular sessions of 
the CSP:  Del should have more information on these dates 
after the Board meeting on November 1. 
 
Item 23 ) Adoption of the report of the Conference of the 
States Parties:  No bets yet on what will happen but odds are 
good for a late Friday evening session. 
 
 
¶11. JAVITS SENDS. 
Gallagher