VZCZCXRO5118
PP RUEHAST RUEHBW RUEHFL RUEHLA RUEHMRE RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHVEN #0120/01 1231602
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021602Z MAY 08
FM USMISSION USOSCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5697
INFO RUCNOSC/ORG FOR SECURITY CO OP IN EUR COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0495
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 1054
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0999
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHMFIUU/HQ USAFE RAMSTEIN AB GE//POLAD/XPXC//
RHMFISS/CDRUSAREUR HEIDELBERG GE
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ5-T/ECPLAD/ECCS//
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEASWA/DTRA ALEX WASHINGTON DC//OSAE
RUESDT/DTRA-OSES DARMSTADT GE
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5-DDPMA-E/DDPMA-IN/CAC//
RUEADWD/DA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 USOSCE 000120 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR VCI/CCA, VCI/NRRC, EUR/RPM, EUR/PRA, SCA/CEN, 
SCA/RA, PM/WRA 
JCS FOR J5 
OSD FOR ISA (PERENYI) 
NSC FOR DOWLEY 
USUN FOR LEGAL, POL 
CENTCOM FOR CCJ5-C, POLAD 
UNVIE FOR AC 
GENEVA FOR CD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM PREL MOPS OSCE KCFE GG RS XG
SUBJECT: FSC APRIL 30: FSC DEFERS TO UNOMIG TO INVESTIGATE 
GEORGIA UAV INCIDENT 
 
USOSCE 00000120  001.2 OF 006 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: At the request of the Finnish 
Chairman-in-Office under the OSCE's "Bucharest mechanism," 
the Forum for Security Cooperation held initial discussions 
of the August 20 UAV incident in Abkhazia.  The EU and 
several of its members deferred to UNOMIG--as it had the 
"main responsibility"--to take the lead on an investigation. 
While delegations supported continued "discussion" on the 
incident in the FSC, Russia challenged the chair when it 
announced that the UAV incident would remain on the agenda to 
allow any experts to report.  Despite Russia's charge that 
experts reporting in any national capacity would have no 
status compared to a report from UNOMIG, the Estonian chair 
declined to reverse herself.  The U.S. called for 
transparency and calm, and invited other participating States 
to join it in sending experts to the region to investigate. 
Russia charged that the Internet video of the shoot-down was 
a hoax and that the Georgian UAV was engaged in impermissible 
"military activity" under the Moscow Agreement and UNSCR 1808 
by over-flying Abkhazia. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Although the UAV incident dominated discussions, on 
other issues Germany promised to table a revised version of 
its quota race paper after it digested comments from several 
delegations, including the U.S.  Russia continued to insist 
that further measures were necessary to ensure compliance 
with the timelines for requesting inspections under the 
Vienna Document.  Belarus is still waiting for instructions 
to join the other 55 delegations in supporting the MANPADS 
principles update decision.  The Small Arms and Light Weapons 
Point of Contact decision will be taken up in the May 8 
Plenary after reaching consensus in the working group. 
Belarus introduced a Food-for-Thought paper on SALW end-user 
certificates.  Germany tabled a draft decision on the 
publication of a Best Practice Guide Handbook on Stockpiles 
of Conventional Weapons.  A revised Code of Conduct 
Questionnaire draft decision is expected by mid-May.  End 
summary. 
 
Security Dialogue: Georgia UAV Shoot-down 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) After Russian objections prevented the Permanent 
Council failed from adopting a draft decision that would have 
asked the FSC for its "expert advice" on the April 20 Georgia 
UAV shoot-down, the FSC chair Estonia (Parts) informed that 
she had just received a letter form the PC chairman 
(CIO.GAL/67/08) making the same request for expert advice 
under the OSCE's "Bucharest mechanism" (MC.DEC/3/2001, 
paragraph 8).  Estonia had already added the UAV incident to 
the Security Dialogue agenda the day before the FSC meeting 
(FSC.GAL/52/08/Rev.1).  Parts also reported she had received 
a letter from Georgia (Dolidze), also invoking the Bucharest 
mechanism, and requesting the FSC send a group of independent 
experts to Georgia to investigate (FSC.DEL/84/08). 
 
EU: Let UNOMIG Do It 
-------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Slovenia, on behalf of the EU, said it was seriously 
concerned but noted the "leading role" of the UN in Abkhazia 
and supported a UNOMIG investigation.  While regretting the 
PC's failure to adopt the decision, the EU looked forward to 
continued discussion in the FSC consistent with the approach 
of the CiO.  Croatia, Norway, Albania, Ukraine, and Iceland 
echoed the EU statement.  Canada hoped that experts could 
 
USOSCE 00000120  002 OF 006 
 
 
soon investigate and encouraged Russia to cooperate in any 
investigation. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The U.S. (Finley) called for complete transparency 
in an investigation of the shoot-down and urged all involved 
in the region to show calm and restraint.  She announced that 
the U.S. had already sent military experts to Georgia and 
invited other participating States also to send experts. 
 
Russia's Questions 
------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) Russia (Ulyanov) had five questions for Georgia 
about the UAV shot down on April 20: 
 
(1) Why was the Georgian UAV in Abkhazian air space despite 
UNSCR 1808, which prohibits "unsanctioned" military 
activities? 
(2) What was the UAV doing: conducting a geological survey? 
(3) Another Georgian UAV was shot down on March 18: why did 
Georgia not alert the international community to this earlier 
incident? 
(4) Why did Georgian authorities initially deny the April 30 
loss of the UAV but later admit it? 
(5) Does the Internet video constitute an "official 
statement" by Georgia and is the video to be seen as 
authentic? 
 
The Georgian Version 
-------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Georgia (Dolidze) replied with a description of the 
shoot-down: at 0953 a Russian MiG-29 launched a missile at a 
Georgian Ministry of Internal Security UAV over Georgian 
"territory."  Georgian military radar showed the Russian 
fighter returning to Russia at 1006 after the incident. 
Georgia based its identification of the aircraft on imagery 
from a video, Dolidze said, taken by the drone before its 
destruction.  This shows a twin-tailed aircraft with air 
inlets under each wing.  The video also showed a missile 
launch from the last or outer pylon under the left wing.  The 
aircraft was first seen on Georgian radar flying near Gudauta 
and after the attack was seen again near Gudauta before 
returning to Russia.  Dolidze noted that Abkhazia claims the 
aircraft was from its air force. 
 
Georgia Invokes OSCE "Bucharest Mechanism" 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶8. (SBU) Dolidze said Russia had not responded to Georgia's 
request for information. Georgia now requests the FSC direct 
an independent investigation under the mandate of the 
"Bucharest mechanism, referring to OSCE decision 2001 
Ministerial in Bucharest (MC.DEC/3/01).  Dolidze noted 
paragraph 8 of the decision called for greater use of the FSC 
to strengthen the political-military aspects of the OSCE. 
The independent investigation should: 
-- authenticate the radar data 
-- authenticate the video 
-- verify technical data of the aircraft involved 
-- determine from where the aircraft took off. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Dolidze said all participating States were welcome 
to participate in the investigation, except parties to the 
incident, i.e., Russia and Georgia, and, by extension, any of 
 
USOSCE 00000120  003 OF 006 
 
 
the member states of the CIS or GUAM.  He also asserted 
Georgia could support a UNOMIG investigation provided it did 
not include any of the parties, i.e., Russia, Georgia, 
Abkhazia, and the Joint Peace-Keeping Force (JPKF), itself 
comprised of military forces from the parties.  Turning to 
the specific questions from Russia, Dolidze replied that (1) 
the UAV was unarmed and flying over Georgian territory and 
(2) belonged to Georgia's Ministry of Internal Defense. 
 
Russia's Rebuttal 
----------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Ulyanov claimed Russia was "happy" to have the FSC 
investigate.  This would be consistent with its oft-stated 
preference for using the Security Dialogue and FSC to discuss 
important, if not contentious, issues rather than listening 
to another guest speaker.  Ulyanov said the facts were that 
Abkhazian air defense forces shot down the Georgia UAV over 
Abkhazia.  Rebutting Dolidze's suggestion that the UAV had no 
military function, Ulyanov noted UAVs were used, as seen in 
Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan, for military missions like 
reconnaissance and targeting.  He charged that the flight 
violated the ban on military activities in Abkhazia found in 
the Moscow Agreement and UNSCR 1808, enacted only a few days 
before the incident.  Russia, he claimed, had no military 
aircraft in the area because of a lull in activities before 
the Orthodox Easter. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Turning to the Internet video of the shoot-down, 
Ulyanov asserted it was simply not credible.  He claimed the 
behavior of the aircraft as it approached the UAV was 
"erratic" and improbable, describing how the fighter 
approached from below the UAV, "as if it wanted to be 
observed (by the UAV's camera)."  He asserted there were no 
outer wing pylons on a MiG-29.  While the vapor trail of a 
missile was visible of the video, air-to air missiles do not 
leave a vapor trail, Ulyanov said.  Also, it was not clear 
when the video was made.  Finally, he noted that the incident 
was supposed to have occurred over the coast of Abkhazia. 
Yet the video shows two roads parallel to the coastline; in 
Abkhazia there are no such roads.  Also, the famous Abkhazian 
beach, visible even in satellite imagery, is missing from the 
video images.  This was, Ulyanov concluded, "another hoax, 
and poorly done." 
 
¶12. (SBU) Citing several incidents in the Kodori gorge where 
Abkhazian villages had been shelled and a subsequent UNOMIG 
investigation had refuted Georgian charges that Russia was 
responsible, Ulyanov said Georgia was asking the OSCE to 
investigate because UNOMIG had seen through earlier Georgian 
accusations of Russian aggression.  Any investigation, 
Ulyanov continued, should be conducted by professionals 
through the proper mechanism.  It was up to the UN to perform 
the fact-finding and "do-it-yourself" measures as the 
Georgians proposed should be avoided.  The investigation 
conducted by independent experts of the August 2007 missile 
incident in Georgia was of dubious value.  Why confuse 
things, Ulyanov asked, recalling the EU also supports a 
UNOMIG investigation. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Dolidze rejoined that UNOMIG lacked capacity to 
perform an investigation without Russia, Georgia, Abkhazia, 
and the JPKF.  Ergo, an independent inquiry was needed.  He 
promised to have more responses to the Russian questions at a 
future FSC meeting. 
 
USOSCE 00000120  004 OF 006 
 
 
 
Estonian Chair: UAV Stays on FSC Agenda 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) The chair announced that, in the interim, the 
matter would remain on the FSC agenda.  Ulyanov challenged 
the chair, noting the Forum will have to wait a while on the 
results of any investigation.  Independent experts, he added, 
could only speak in their national capacity, so it would be 
better to wait for results from UNOMIG.  The chair was 
unmoved, saying that she intended to invite experts to 
address the FSC when appropriate. 
 
Vienna Document Quota Race 
-------------------------- 
 
¶15. (SBU) Switzerland (von Arx) criticized the German 
Food-for-Thought paper on the Vienna Document "quota race" 
(FSC.DEL/51/08) for eliminating "freedom of choice" by 
preventing pS from using their inspection quota at any time 
of the year.  Some states might be able to "hide" military 
activities by waiting until the end of the inspection 
calendar "period."  The FFT also would not eliminate the 
quota race but instead creates three separate "mini-races." 
The provision for carrying quota over into the first months 
of the following year unnecessarily complicates the 
inspection regime and is not allowed under paragraph 76 of 
the Vienna Document. 
 
¶16. (SBU) Germany (Schweizer) announced Greece and the U.S. 
had also provided comments, all of which will be reflected in 
a future version of the FFT.  Schweizer said the revised 
paper will address the question of late exercises; the 
end-of-year quota carry-over provision will be dropped.  He 
asked the chair to remove the paper from the working group 
agenda until the revised version is circulated. 
 
Vienna Document Inspection Request Timelines 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶17. (SBU) Canada (Gosal) objected to Russia's proposed 
chair's statement calling for strict compliance with the 
timelines for requesting inspections and evaluations under 
the paragraphs 85 and 112 of the Vienna Document 1999 
(FSC.DEL/75/08).  Gosal said the proposal did not address the 
full scope of the problem that for Canada included 
eleven-hour time zone differences, lengthy travel times, and 
occasional difficulties with communications.  Participating 
States, he asserted, should retain the ability to accept even 
untimely requests.  Russia (Ulyanov) disagreed, suggesting 
that if Canada had an ongoing problem with the timelines it 
could suggest a permanent change to them. 
 
¶18. (SBU) Switzerland, Italy, and Sweden agreed with Russia 
that more discipline in complying with the timelines was 
required, but had reservations about the last sentence of the 
proposal, which would require refusal of untimely requests. 
This language, they cautioned, was more appropriate to an FSC 
decision. 
 
¶19. (SBU) Ulyanov announced he had studied Conflict 
Prevention Center (CPC) data for 2007 and calculated that 
there had been 85 violations of the timelines, "many of them 
by Russia."  Continued violations will seriously erode 
implementation of the Vienna Document, he said, noting that 
 
USOSCE 00000120  005 OF 006 
 
 
early requests were also a problem.  The chair agreed to task 
the CPC to perform a multi-year study of past violations to 
determine if the problem was, in the words of the UK (Gare), 
"a trend or a blip." 
 
MANPADS Decision 
---------------- 
 
¶20. (SBU) Belarus (Pavlov) announced it still lacked 
instruction on the draft decision to amend the MANPADS 
Principles to include recent Wassenaar Arrangement changes 
(FSC.DD/5/08/Rev.1).  Pavlov said he was sure Minsk would 
approve as Belarus was a member of Wassenaar.  The decision 
will remain on the working group agenda. 
 
CAT Update 
---------- 
 
¶21. (SBU) Russia (Geyvandov) repeated its preliminary 
comments that updates to the conventional arms transfer (CAT) 
categories should be considered individually by the Forum 
rather than automatically made by the CPC as in Germany's 
draft decision (FSC.DEL/69/08), and data provided to the OSCE 
as part of CAT information exchange was not necessarily 
releasable to the UN.  Germany replied that a reporting 
category update was fundamentally a procedural matter and did 
not require deliberation by the FSC; the CPC would in any 
case report the changes to the Forum.  As to the sensitivity 
of information provided, he noted that operative paragraph 4 
of the draft decision allows pS to decline to provide 
information to the UN. 
 
End-User Certificates 
--------------------- 
 
¶22. (SBU) Belarus announced it has circulated a 
Food-for-Thought paper on SALW end-user certificates 
(FSC.DEL/56/08).  The paper proposes an information exchange 
on national practices.  Pavlov thanked the CPC and Walter 
Schweizer, to soon replace Pavlov as the chair of the 
Informal Group of Friends of SALW, for their help in drafting 
the paper. 
 
SALW POC 
-------- 
 
¶23. (SBU) With the U.S. joining consensus, the 
Danish-authored SALW Point of Contact draft decision 
(FSC.DD/2/08/Rev.1) will move to the May 8 Plenary for 
adoption. 
 
BPG Publication 
--------------- 
 
¶24. (SBU) Germany tabled a draft decision to publish the Best 
Practice Guides (BPG) on Stockpiles of Conventional 
Ammunition FSC.DEL/80/08).  Sweden supported, noting that two 
further guides, on destruction and physical security, were 
nearing completion.  Schweizer said he hoped the published 
BPG handbook could be displayed at the Biennial Meeting of 
States at the UN in July. 
 
Code of Conduct Questionnaire 
----------------------------- 
 
 
USOSCE 00000120  006 OF 006 
 
 
¶25. (SBU) Switzerland (von Arx), a co-sponsor with France and 
Austria, announced the proposed update of the Code of Conduct 
Questionnaire (FSC.DEL/49/08) will be revised based on 
extensive comments from pS.  Von Arx hopes the revision will 
be available by mid-May. 
 
Next Meeting 
------------ 
 
¶26. (U) The FSC meets again on May 7. 
FINLEY