VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTC #1035/01 3540852
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 190852Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2353
INFO RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/DTRA ALEX WASHINGTON DC//OSAC PRIORITY

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 001035 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR ISN/CB, VCI/CCA, L/NPV, IO/MPR, 
SECDEF FOR OSD/GSA/CN,CP> 
JOINT STAFF FOR DD PMA-A FOR WTC 
COMMERCE FOR BIS (ROBERTS AND DENYER) 
NSC FOR FLY 
WINPAC FOR WALTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM PREL CWC
SUBJECT: CWC:  WRAP UP FOR DECEMBER 8-18, 2008 
 
REF: A. THE HAGUE 1015 
     ¶B. THE HAGUE 1021 
     ¶C. THE HAGUE 1025 
     ¶D. THE HAGUE 984 
 
This is CWC-63-08. 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) During his brief visit December 8, A/DAS 
Kenneth Staley met with the Algerian Ambassador to 
discuss plans for a conference on chemical terrorism 
and security in Algeria next year.  Delrep followed 
up later in the week with the Algerian delegate to 
OPCW; it appears that Algeria's concept for this 
conference is grander than what the U.S. had in mind. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Western European and Others Group held 
its last meeting of the year on December 9, 
discussing the recent Conference of the States 
Parties (CSP-13) as well as bidding farewell to 
Ambassador Javits with contentious debate on a draft 
decision in his honor.  Executive Council Chairperson 
Oksana Tomova hosted the U.S. delegation to breakfast 
on December 12, again to bid farewell to Ambassador 
Javits but also to discuss the recent CSP. 
Clingendael Institute featured Amb. Javits as a 
luncheon speaker as part of a series on 
multilateralism at the OPCW.  Delreps met with 
counterparts from Japan and South Korea on December 
18 to discuss possible reform of the Advisory Body on 
Administrative and Financial Matters. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
A/DAS STALEY'S MEETING WITH ALGERIAN AMBASSADOR AND 
FOLLOW UP ON THE ALGERIAN CONFERENCE 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) On December 8, A/DAS Staley, ISN/CB Office 
Director Mikulak and Delreps met with Algerian 
Ambassador Benchaa Dani and delegate Said Moussi to 
discuss evolving plans for an Algerian conference on 
Chemical Terrorism and Safety and Security.  Amb. 
Dani said Algiers was very enthusiastic about the 
proposal, and was looking at hosting such an event in 
the second half of February.  He suggested the event 
be held at the African Center for Studies and 
Research on Terrorism.  A/DAS Staley expressed 
appreciation for Algeria's willingness to play a lead 
role in this area and suggested that Algeria consider 
a mid-March date for the conference to give a bit 
more time for thorough planning in Algiers and 
Washington. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Staley recommended the conference maintain a 
regional focus; Dani replied that while he might 
agree with this approach for training, he thought a 
conference that had the potential to raise the 
profile of preventing chemical terrorism should 
target global participation.  On conference format, 
Dani recommended organizing several round-table 
discussions on various topics to allow for a more in- 
depth exploration.  Delrep suggested that discussions 
include chemical terrorism scenarios, as well as best 
practices on chemical plant security, and noted that 
the U.S. would provide a paper with initial thoughts 
on appropriate topics. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Dani reminded others that the first stage of 
improving international prevention of chemical 
terrorism is raising awareness, and suggested again 
that this could best be done globally before focusing 
training efforts regionally.  He expressed hope that 
the U.S. would provide expertise and financial 
contributions for the upcoming Conference, noting the 
Qcontributions for the upcoming Conference, noting the 
"total lack" of African expertise in this area. 
 
¶6. (SBU) On December 11, Delrep met with Algerian 
delegate Moussi to share an informal U.S. paper on 
possible conference structure/topics and follow up on 
earlier discussions.  It became increasingly clear 
over the course of this and a meeting on December 12 
that Algeria views this conference as a far broader 
and more political event than Washington had 
envisioned.  Algiers does not/not want to limit the 
scope to North and Central Africa, as outlined in the 
U.S. paper, but wants participation and 
speakers/expertise from around the world, including 
from other international organizations and bodies, 
such as the UN's 1540 Committee.  Algiers also 
envisions an opening session with speeches from high- 
level officials from Algeria, the U.S. and the 
African Union, and attendance on the opening day by 
the Diplomatic Corps in Algiers. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Algeria has not defined the appropriate role 
for the OPCW Technical Secretariat (TS), and was open 
to U.S. views.  Moussi asked whether this should, 
instead, be an OPCW-sponsored event, with invitations 
coming from the Director-General (DG).  Delrep 
cautioned that this would come with a number of 
complications and committed to seek Washington's 
views on the matter.  Moussi also expanded on 
Algeria's concept of round-table discussions and 
suggested the results of these sessions could be 
reported back to the conference at the end in the 
form of working papers or suggestions for best 
practices. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Moussi also reiterated the mutual benefit 
for both the U.S. and Algeria of raising the profile 
of prevention of chemical terrorism and went so far 
as to point to the political inroads this event could 
establish for the U.S. in terms of larger anti- 
terrorism goals on the African continent.  He then 
went on to explain that Algeria sees the second step 
in this process as "capacity building," and noted 
that there would be value in equipping the African 
Center with an analytical laboratory but was not able 
to offer a satisfactory justification for this. 
 
¶9. (SBU) DEL COMMENT:  As Algeria clearly has grander 
designs than the U.S. for the upcoming conference, it 
will be important to share any U.S. response to these 
initial discussions as soon as possible.  Otherwise, 
Algiers is likely to move ahead with planning and 
expect assistance for a highly political and complex 
event that may lack the practical impact Washington 
desires.  Del recommends that any initial response 
include clear parameters in terms of the support 
(both expert and financial) the U.S. is willing to 
offer.  This topic is also one that will attract 
attention from the OPCW Director of the Office of 
Special Projects and the Chair of the OPCW Open-ended 
Working Group on Terrorism, both of whom will be 
eager to influence the planning and scope of this 
conference.  END COMMENT 
 
---- 
WEOG 
---- 
 
¶10. (SBU) The Western European and Others Group 
(WEOG) coordinator Ruth Surkau opened the last WEOG 
meeting of 2008 with a review of CSP-13.  Delegations 
expressed mixed feelings, including appreciation for 
the continued trend of openness and transparency in 
the final negotiations, and concern that the budget 
Qthe final negotiations, and concern that the budget 
process in particular was being eroded by Non-aligned 
Movement (NAM) -- specifically Iranian -- 
"interpretation" and politicization.  Amb. Javits 
noted that Iran had received an object lesson when 
the U.S. and others refused to accept proposed 
Iranian destruction language, despite the fact that 
this meant no consensus report was adopted.  He also 
noted the increased importance of cross-regional 
cooperation, particularly to capitalize on growing 
frustration with Iranian tactics.  UK Ambassador Lyn 
Parker added that Russia had become increasingly 
outspoken on non-proliferation, and that China was 
still "caught between two camps" but displaying a 
rational approach that others should encourage. 
However, Parker noted that India was still too 
closely aligned with Iran to be a useful or 
consistent partner. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Ireland asked whether the lack of agreement 
on a report (as an alternative to reluctantly 
agreeing language that eroded WEOG objectives) could 
be an option for future situations.  The Netherlands 
noted that Iran is likely to question the validity of 
future decisions, and expressed disappointment that 
India had continued to support Iran.  Italian 
delegate Giuseppe Cornacchia was positive about the 
Conference outcome in terms of the lesson it may have 
provided for Iran, but he added that Iran relies 
heavily on a detailed knowledge of the rules of 
procedure and that WEOG might do well to research 
these rules more thoroughly for future sessions. 
Switzerland assessed the lack of a consensus report 
as "regrettable but necessary" and reminded 
delegations that any calls for a vote would need to 
come 24 hours before the end of the Conference, 
although voting rules for the Council may be somewhat 
more flexible. 
 
¶12. (SBU) In a creative farewell gesture to Amb. 
Javits, Surkau asked WEOG members to stay for a 
discussion of a "Canadian proposal," which turned out 
to be a mock draft decision on Amb. Javits' 
departure.  WEOG delegations, often acting in 
character as more troublesome NAM delegations, 
debated the language, ending the mock negotiation 
with text no closer to consensus than when they 
began. 
 
----------------------------------- 
BREAKFAST WITH SLOVAKIAN DELEGATION 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) On December 12, Slovakian Ambassador Oksana 
Tomova (Executive Council Chairperson) hosted Amb. 
Javits to breakfast; Slovakian delegate Michal Komada 
and Delreps also attended.  Amb. Tomova used the 
opportunity to bid farewell to Amb. Javits as well to 
share views on the future work of the Executive 
Council (EC).  The discussion focused at length about 
the Iranian delegation's behavior at CSP-13 and 
possible spill-over effects at the next EC session in 
February 2009.  Amb. Tomova noted the constructive 
roles played by Chinese Ambassador Zhang and Mexican 
Ambassador Lomonaco during the Conference; Amb. 
Javits agreed that it would be necessary to work 
across regional lines to deal with future Iranian 
obstruction.  Amb. Tomova mentioned that the Iranian 
delegation had met with CSP Chairman Amb. Shibuya to 
protest his releasing a Chairman's report for the 
Conference.  She did not have a read-out of the 
meeting; however, Komada pointed out that an advance 
copy of the report already had been released, despite 
any Iranian objections. 
 
----------------------------------- 
CLINGENDAEL HOSTS AMBASSADOR JAVITS 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶14. (U) On December 12, Clingendael Institute 
Q14. (U) On December 12, Clingendael Institute 
featured Amb. Javits as its featured lunch speaker on 
"Reflections on Multilateral Cooperation at the OPCW" 
as part of a series of speakers that earlier included 
Director-General Pfirter.  Clingendael's Director, 
Dr. Jaap de Zwaan, chaired the event which included a 
small, but knowledgeable, group of participants from 
academia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the City 
of The Hague and Clingendael staff.  Three past and 
present Dutch Permanent Representatives to OPCW -- 
Marc Vogelaar, Maarten Lak and Pieter de Savornin 
Lohman -- all attended. 
 
¶15. (U) Amb. Javits spoke extemporaneously from his 
personal experience, both at the Conference on 
Disarmament and at OPCW.  Questions from participants 
focused on whether the experience of consensus at 
OPCW could be replicated elsewhere, the role of China 
and other rising powers in international 
organizations, the usefulness of the Cold War 
regional group structure in UN bodies, the prognosis 
for universality in the Chemical Weapons Convention 
and other arms control and non-proliferation 
treaties, and how The Hague might better support the 
international organizations resident in the city. 
 
---------------------- 
HOST COUNTRY COMMITTEE 
---------------------- 
 
¶16. (U) EC Chair Amb. Tomova (Slovakia) chaired the 
final meeting for the year of the Host Country 
Committee on December 15.  She cited the Memorandum 
of Understanding on the Commissary signed on December 
1, 2008, and requested the TS to provide an update on 
implementation.  Serban Coman-Enescu (Protocol), 
chair of the Technical Secretariat's internal 
committee on the Commissary, reported that the newly 
chosen company to run the Commissary was having 
difficulty obtaining the proper permits from the 
Dutch government to operate at OPCW.  Legal Advisor 
Onate described the competitive bidding process for 
the new supplier but noted OPCW's reluctance to sign 
a contract until they had the appropriate license. 
As the current will expire on January 1, 2009, the 
question was whether to close the Commissary or to 
extend the current contract temporarily.  The 
Committee expressed its unhappiness at the delay and 
asked whether the Dutch representative, Amb. Rob 
Zaagman, could assist in speeding up the process. 
They agreed that the current contractor should not 
continue, even if it meant shutting down the 
commissary for a time.  There was also an animated 
discussion of parking spots for diplomats at Schiphol 
Airport and both train stations in The Hague.  Since 
this is a broader issue than for OPCW alone, the 
Committee requested Amb. Tomova to coordinate with 
the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in requesting 
additional spaces. 
 
¶17. (SBU) Amb. Tomova closed the meeting by thanking 
Amb. Javits for his service and noting that WEOG 
would need to select a new representative to replace 
him.  Amb. Javits responded that the U.S. had already 
requested that the succession be on WEOG's agenda for 
its first meeting in January.  (Del Comment: 
Tomova's deputy had phoned before the meeting to 
alert us that this would be raised.  Unfortunately, 
the Iranian representative was not present at the 
meeting for the object lesson on orderly succession 
of representatives upon the departure of an 
ambassador.  End Comment.) 
 
----------- 
ABAF REFORM 
----------- 
 
¶18. (SBU) On December 18, Delreps met with Japanese 
delegate Takayuki Kitagawa and South Korean delegate 
Su-jin Cho to discuss ideas for reforming the OPCW's 
QSu-jin Cho to discuss ideas for reforming the OPCW's 
Advisory Body on Administrative and Financial Matters 
(ABAF).  Kitagawa and Cho both serve on the ABAF, 
having taken over from their respective predecessors. 
According to Cho, a smaller group of real experts 
would be the best option for the ABAF to be 
effective.  However, Kitagawa predicted that attempts 
to make any radical changes likely will be met with 
heavy resistance, and he suggested introducing 
gradual changes on a trial basis.  Both Cho and 
Kitagawa agreed that the Geneva Group would be a good 
forum to further develop ideas for ABAF reform, 
especially in advance of the next EC session in 
February. 
 
------------- 
YEAR END 2008 
------------- 
 
¶19. (U) This will be the last wrap up for 2008.  The 
U.S. Delegation wishes all our loyal readers happy 
holidays and best wishes for the new year. 
 
¶20. (U) Beik sends. 
CULBERTSON