VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTC #0144/01 0581132
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 271132Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2601
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 000144 
 
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:  MEETINGS ON THE MARGINS OF EC-55 
 
REF: A. THE HAGUE 000104 
     ¶B. THE HAGUE 000128 
     ¶C. THE HAGUE 000141 
     ¶D. THE HAGUE 000143 
 
This is CWC-13-09. 
 
-------- 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) On the margins of the 55th session of the 
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical 
Weapons' Executive Council, the U.S. Del met with a 
number of other delegations to discuss OPCW 
affairs, including the selection of a new Director- 
General, which will be a priority for the 
delegation in 2009.  Meetings with the Iraqi and 
Libyan delegations are reported separately (refs A 
- D). 
 
------------------------ 
LUNCH WITH CLOSE ALLIES 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) British Ambassador Lyn Parker hosted a 
lunch on February 16 attended by French Ambassador 
Jean-Francois Blarel, French delegates Annie Mari 
and Patrick Comoy, German Ambassador Werner 
Burkart, delegates Ruth Surkau and Stefan Herzog, 
U.S. Representative Robert Mikulak and delegates 
Janet Beik and Sarah Rodjom, and UK delegates Karen 
Wolstenholme and Clive Rowland.  Discussion 
centered on the search for a new Director-General, 
with agreement that an early deadline for nominees 
was important and an open-ended consultation 
process to be avoided at all costs.  The group 
discussed the election of a new Chair and Vice 
Chairs for the EC, and the critical transition 
between the current Chair (Slovakian Ambassador 
Tomova) and the new Mexican Chairman, particularly 
on the DG process.  While objecting to Iran taking 
a vice chair role without a representative in The 
Hague, no one wanted to hold up the elections for 
the new leadership until the April Council.  Allies 
compared notes on Iraq's accession to the 
Convention and how it might play out in the 
Council.  The group also discussed plans for the 
March meeting in Paris. 
 
---- 
JAPAN 
----- 
 
¶3. (SBU) At the request of Japan, U.S. 
Representative  Mikulak and Delrep met with 
Director General of the Abandoned Chemical Weapons 
Office Masanori Nishi and Japanese delegates. 
Nishi asked for U.S. support for the Japanese 
candidate to fill current OPCW Head of the 
Inspectorate Division Ichiro Akiyama's position 
when Akiyama departs this summer.  The candidate, 
Shigeyuki Urano, was former head of OPCW Operations 
and Planning Branch.  Nishi noted with concern that 
he had heard the Director General intended to leave 
this post open until his own departure in 2010. 
(DEL COMMENT:  Delrep learned later in the week 
from Richard Ekwall, the Director General's Chief 
of Cabinet, that the DG does intend to fill the 
post as quickly as possible following Akiyama's 
departure.  END COMMENT.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) Nishi mentioned the test destruction plant 
at Haerbaling, China, and noted that full-scale 
operations there will be very complicated because 
they will be operated jointly by Japan and China. 
He noted recent Chinese complaints that the process 
was moving too slowly, and also noted that 
interactions with the arms control division of the 
Chinese MFA tend to be more confrontational than 
other areas of bilateral discussion/cooperation. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Nishi noted that excellent chemical 
detection capabilities will be needed as operations 
begin, and expressed concern that one of the best 
systems on the market (U.S. Mini-cams) may be 
difficult to procure because of export controls for 
China.  He expected that the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo 
would receive a request to look into this.  He 
added that U.S. personnel actually operate the 
Mini-cams in Japan's Kanda Harbor, and wondered if 
a similar arrangement would be possible in China. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Mikulak told Nishi that the U.S. will 
likely continue its bilateral dialogue with China 
on CWC implementation, and that the next 
discussions will be held in China and may involve a 
visit to Nanjing.  If so, he said that the U.S. 
will ask China to include Japanese officials. 
 
----- 
CHINA 
----- 
 
¶7. (SBU) At China's request, Mikulak and Delrep met 
with Chinese Ambassador Zhang and Chinese Delreps 
on February 18.  Zhang had general inquiries about 
the new U.S. administration's arms control 
policies, the pace of chemical weapons destruction, 
the search for a new Director General, and the 
recent accession of Iraq to the CWC.  He reiterated 
China's concern that delays by major possessor 
states in destruction of their stockpiles would 
give Japan room to further delay its destruction 
efforts in China.  Mikulak expressed hope that 
China and the U.S. would soon resume their 
bilateral dialogue on CWC implementation, 
particularly on industry issues.  Zhang said that 
China supports OPCW non-proliferation efforts 
despite the burden on industry, but believes 
inspections should be allocated based on the 
"hierarchy of risk" laid out by the Schedules of 
Chemicals. 
 
----- 
ITALY 
----- 
 
¶8. (SBU) On February 19, Representative Mikulak and 
Delreps Clagett, Ferguson, Miller, and Robinson met 
with Italian delegates Vittorio Rocco di 
Torrepadula and Giuseppe Cornacchia to discuss 
progress and reporting on Libya's Rabta conversion. 
The Italians expressed concern with the lack of 
progress and the possibility that the overall 
project (to include the active pharmaceutical 
ingredient formulation and packaging facility, 
which is not part of the Rabta conversion as such) 
would not be completed on time and thus not be 
viewed as a success. Delreps were in agreement on 
the need for Libya to provide better reporting on 
the status of the conversion as well as the 
reloading and destruction facilities (to be located 
at the existing  CW Storage Facility and near the 
Rabta conversion, respectively).  The two 
delegations agreed that both should engage the 
Libyan delegation to encourage better transparency. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The conversation then expanded to address 
three other subjects.  Rocco asked about Italy's 
bilateral Host Country Agreement (HCA) with the 
United States, which was recently approved by the 
Italian Parliament.  Approval has apparently 
prompted Italian authorities to assess what actions 
are necessary on their part to be prepared in the 
event of a Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) 
Qevent of a Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) 
challenge inspection.  Rocco asked for the names of 
other countries with which we have similar 
agreements and the nature of those agreements. 
Delrep responded that the U.S. has been working on 
similar agreements with a number of countries 
spanning several different regions, but that most 
countries prefer that the details of those 
negotiations are kept confidential. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Cornacchia summarized results from the 
last consultation on the 2A/2A* low concentration 
thresholds, pointing out that there remain two 
separate camps centered at either the low ( 1 %) or 
high (30 %) threshold.  He stated there was some 
movement among the latter group (e.g. recent 
indications that France might be willing to accept 
a lower threshold), but with little real progress, 
and he solicited U.S. suggestions for a way 
forward. Delreps suggested that a compromise 
threshold as proposed at the Florence workshop in 
September 2008 still offered a possible way ahead. 
Delreps also noted that definitive data on the 
consequence of the level selected on the facility 
coverage (as requested in consultation) would be 
helpful.  Cornacchia opined that a more 
comprehensive assessment was unlikely to provide 
results differing from those already reported, and 
could raise additional concerns with 
confidentiality. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Cornacchia asked for U.S. views on the 
approach to appointment of the next Director 
General.  Mikulak reiterated the approach suggested 
in the U.S. national statement to EC-55, indicating 
that the U.S. preferred to continue the rotation 
between developed and developing countries, and 
that nominations should be submitted in time for 
candidates to address the July 2009 EC, with an eye 
to achieving consensus on a candidate by October 
¶2009. 
 
¶12. (U) Beik sends. 
GALLAGHER