O R 191432Z MAY 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR IMMEDIATE 
INFO ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS COLLECTIVE
AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 
AMEMBASSY BEIJING 
AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 
AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 
AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 
AMEMBASSY KABUL 
AMEMBASSY RANGOON 
AMEMBASSY SEOUL 
AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 
AMEMBASSY TOKYO

S E C R E T STATE 051076 
 
 
JERUSALEM 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2029 
TAGS: OVIP CLINTON HILLARY PGOV PREL ECON MY
SUBJECT: SECRETARY CLINTON'S MAY 14, 2009 CONVERSATION 
WITH MALAYSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ANIFAH AMAN 
 
Classified By: EAP ACTING A/S GLYN T. DAVIES. REASONS 
1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  May 14, 2009; 2:30 p.m.; Washington, D.C. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Participants: 
 
U.S. 
The Secretary 
Glyn T. Davies, EAP Acting A/S 
Ian Kelly, Spokesman 
Joe McManus, Executive Assistant 
Daniel Bischof, EAP/MTS (Notetaker) 
 
MALAYSIA 
FM Anifah Aman 
Mohd. Radzi Abdul Rahman, Foreign Affairs Deputy 
Secretary General 
Ilango Karuppannan, Charge d'Affaires, a.i. 
Melvin Castellino S. Anthony Raja, Private Secretary to 
the Foreign Minister 
Muhammad Radzi Jamaluddin, Foreign Affairs Principal 
Assistant Secretary 
 
¶3.  (S)  SUMMARY.  In a May 14, 2009, meeting with FM 
Anifah, Secretary Clinton highlighted the opportunity 
for deeper bilateral relations with Malaysia.  FM Anifah 
said he was pleased to take bilateral relations to a 
higher level and invited the Secretary and President 
Obama to visit Kuala Lumpur.  Secretary Clinton said the 
United States supports full membership for Malaysia in 
the Contact Group for Piracy off the Coast of Somalia. 
Noting the recent arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, the 
Secretary asked Anifah for advice on dealing with the 
situation in Burma.  She said she wanted to work more 
closely with Malaysia to combat trafficking in persons. 
Anifah offered assistance in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 
especially in the area of Islamic banking.  Anifah renewed 
a Government of Malaysia (GOM) request for the return of 
two Malaysian citizens held in Guantanamo Bay.  He 
encouraged the United States to continue to move toward a 
two-state solution in the Middle East, a goal to which the 
Secretary said the Obama administration is committed. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
-------------------- 
ENHANCED ENGAGEMENT 
-------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) The Secretary began her May 14 meeting by saying 
how pleased she was to welcome FM Anifah to Washington 
and that this was an opportunity to develop the 
bilateral relationship at the time of the new 
administrations in both our governments.  The Secretary 
said there was much to discuss and much that we could 
work together on.  She presented Anifah with a 
congratulatory letter from President Obama for Prime 
Minister Najib.  Anifah said he was pleased to bring 
relations to a higher level.  He invited President Obama 
to visit Malaysia, noting that the last President to 
visit was President Johnson 43 years ago.  He also 
invited the Secretary to Malaysia on the margins of her 
trip to the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference / ASEAN 
Regional Forum (ASEAN PMC/ARF) in July.  The Secretary 
said she was looking forward to ASEAN PMC/ARF and that 
it was an opportunity to re-engage in the region.  She 
said she expected to have a busy agenda but would take 
into consideration Anifah's kind invitation. 
 
------ 
PIRACY 
------ 
 
¶5.  (C)  The Secretary said that the United States 
supports full membership for Malaysia in the Contact 
Group for Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) and that 
Malaysia has been a strong partner in combating piracy, 
including by deploying a frigate to the region since 
fall 2008.  Anifah said he appreciated the invitation to the 
May CGPCS meeting and expected that Malaysia could 
contribute positively.  The Secretary noted Malaysia's 
success in combating piracy in the Strait of Malacca and 
welcomed lessons learned from Malaysia.  Anifah also 
mentioned that there will be a piracy conference held in 
Malaysia May 18-19 and that there will be 46 
international speakers, including four from the United 
States. 
 
----- 
BURMA 
----- 
 
¶6.  (C)  Referencing Malaysia's status as a leading 
member of ASEAN, the Secretary asked for Anifah's advice on 
dealing with Burma.  She recounted the reports that Aung 
San Suu Kyi (ASSK) was being charged for violating the 
terms of her house arrest.  The Secretary said she hoped 
that ASEAN will speak out, noting humanitarian concerns 
due to ASSK's health and concerns about freedom and rule 
of law in this matter.  Anifah said he had gotten 
information about this matter only earlier that morning 
but added he was very concerned.  He suggested using the 
ASEAN forum and offered to ask for an ASEAN meeting 
about Burma.  He said that his government was committed 
to continued engagement with the United States on Burma. 
 
---------------------- 
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 
---------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C)  The Secretary raised the April 2009 Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee Report on trafficking of 
persons in Malaysia and noted Prime Minister Najib's 
announcement of an investigation of Malaysian officials' 
complicity in the trafficking.  She said she was aware 
that Anifah was scheduled to meet with Senator Lugar to 
discuss trafficking and the unfortunate refugee 
situation in Malaysia.  She said she was looking forward 
to working with Malaysia on these issues.  Anifah said 
that Prime Minister Najib is engaged on these matters, 
that this is an ASEAN region-wide problem, and that his 
government would seek to address the root of the problem. 
He added that the GOM is concerned about abuse by 
government agencies and that they were "looking into it 
deeply." 
 
------------------------------------- 
NON-PROLIFERATION AND EXPORT CONTROLS 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (C)  The Secretary turned to export controls and 
financial transactions with countries such as North 
Korea and Iran.  She said that the United States is 
interested in working together with Malaysia on money 
laundering and other illicit transactions.  Anifah said 
the government is working to complete an export control 
law and is working on a megaports agreement. 
 
------------------------ 
GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEES 
------------------------ 
 
¶9.  (S)  Anifah noted a previous request by his 
predecessor for the United States to return to Malaysia 
the two Malaysian nationals detained in Guantanamo Bay. 
Anifah said that his government was still interested in 
receiving them back and conducting or assisting with any 
related investigation.  The Secretary said that she 
appreciated the offer, adding that it was helpful to 
have this information.  She said the Guantanamo Bay 
detainee issue was part of an inter-agency review, that 
the situation for each detainee was being reviewed 
individually, and that when the review was finished, we 
would inform the Malaysians. 
 
------------------------- 
MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS 
------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (C)  Anifah expressed appreciation for USG efforts 
in the Middle East and said Malaysia hoped the United 
States would continue to be an honest broker in efforts to 
achieve the two-state solution.  He noted this would 
boost the image of the United States in the Muslim world. 
The Secretary said that the United States was committed to 
the two state solution.  She said that the Arab Peace 
Initiative and the roadmap had been agreed to by most 
nations in the world, including 55 Muslim nations.  She 
said she was hopeful to shift the conversation away from 
"the most extreme edges." 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
AFGHANISTAN ASSISTANCE, GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶11.  (C)  Anifah said that Malaysia was willing to 
assist with efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  On 
issues such as Islamic banking, Malaysia had much to 
offer.  He also noted appreciation for U.S. efforts with 
the global financial crisis and said that Malaysia had 
learned financial institution restructuring lessons from 
the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 that it was 
willing to share with the United States.  The Secretary 
said that the USG would follow up on these invitations. 
 
 
CLINTON