ITALY ON WASSENAAR HOS: NOT TO WORRY

UNCLAS ROME 001548

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STATE FOR T, PM/DCT, NP/ECNP, PM/RSAT
DOD FOR OSD, PDASD/S&TR, DUSD/TSP, DIRDTSA/ST AND DTRSA/STP
DOD ALSO FOR USD (A&T)/ODUSD(I&CP) AND USD(A&T)/IDA
USDOC FOR BXA/EA/OAS AND BXA/EA/OSTFPC
NSC FOR TUCKER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETTC IT KSTC PARM EUN
SUBJECT: ITALY ON WASSENAAR HOS: NOT TO WORRY
UNCLASSIFIED


PAGE 02 ROME 01548 270942Z

REF: (A) MCBRIDE-VANSON 3/22 E-MAIL (B) VIENNA 449


1. (U) ITALY SEES NO REMAINING SUBSTANTIVE WASSENAAR
ARRANGEMENT HEAD OF SECRETARIAT SUCCESSION ISSUE, MFA'S
NONPROLIFERATION COORDINATOR UGO DE MOHR TOLD ECONOFF ON
MARCH 22. ITALY ACCEPTS THAT THE SWEDISH CANDIDATE,
AMBASSADOR DANIELSSON, WILL BE THE NEXT HOS, AND DE MOHR SAID
ITALY IS FULLY SUPPORTIVE.


2. (SBU) DE MOHR ALLOWED THAT THERE MAY HAVE BEEN SOME RECENT
"MISCOMMUNICATION" ABOUT ITALY'S POSITION ON THE HOS SALARY
QUESTION. ITALY AGREES THAT THE NEXT HOS SHOULD HAVE A
COMPENSATION PACKAGE EQUIVALENT TO A D2 RANK ON THE UNITED
NATIONS PERSONNEL SCALE. DE MOHR, HOWEVER, INSISTS THAT NO
REFERENCE BE MADE TO A D2 RANK IN THE FORMAL LETTER OF
APPOINTMENT OF THE HOS BECAUSE (1) WASSENAAR IS NOT PART OF
THE UN SYSTEM AND (2) REFERENCE TO A D2 RANK WOULD SEEM TO
THE WORLD TO BE A DOWNGRADING OF THE POSITION. HE POINTED
OUT THAT THE LETTER OF APPOINTMENT PRESENTED FOUR YEAR AGO TO
INCUMBENT HOS LAURIOLA MADE NO REFERENCE TO RANK. LAURIOLA,
LIKE DANIELSSON, CARRIES THE PERSONAL RANK OF AMBASSADOR, A
RANK DE MOHR BELIEVES LENDS USEFUL PRESTIGE TO THE HOS
POSITION. ECONOFF COUNTERED THAT, IF THE POSITION CARRIED NO
EXPRESS RANK WHEN AMBASSADOR LAURIOLA OCCUPIED IT, IT COULD
HARDLY BE "DOWNGRADED" NOW.


3. (SBU) REPEATEDLY CHARACTERIZING THE HOS COMPENSATION
PACKAGE AS A MINOR ISSUE THAT SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO
INTERFERE WITH THE ENHANCED IMPORTANCE OF WASSENAAR IN THE
POST 9-11 WORLD, DE MOHR NEVERTHELESS BELABORED THE MATTER.
UNCLASSIFIED

PAGE 03 ROME 01548 270942Z
HE COMPLAINED THAT THE TURKISH AND UKRAINIAN PLENARY CHAIRS
HAD NOT CIRCULATED A GOI LETTER OBJECTING TO THE DOWNGRADING
OF THE HOS POSITION. ("THE TURKS," HE SAID, "LIED TO THE
UKRAINIANS FOR REASONS I WON'T GO INTO.") HE ALLEGED THAT
THE DRAFT COMPENSATION PACKAGE HAD IMPROPERLY BEEN SHOWED TO
A HOS CANDIDATE BEFORE BEING APPROVED BY THE MEMBERSHIP. HE
DOUBTED THAT WASSENAAR WILL REALIZE A SAVINGS WITH THE NEW
CONTRACT BECAUSE THE NEW HOS MAY BE ENTITLED TO ADDITIONAL
BENEFITS (SEPARATION ALLOWANCE, ETC.) THAT CANNOT BE FULLY
CALCULATED UNTIL HE SUBMITS REQUISITE PAPERWORK. HE,
HOWEVER, CONCLUDED THE SUBJECT ON AN UPBEAT NOTE, SAYING
"LET'S NOT MAKE PROBLEMS THAT DON'T EXIST" AS THE USG AND GOI
PREPARE TO WORK CLOSELY TOGETHER (AS WASSENAAR PLENARY CHAIR
AND EXPERTS COMMITTEE CHAIR RESPECTIVELY).


4. (SBU) COMMENT. WE WON'T PRESUME TO JUDGE WHETHER DE
MOHR'S LATEST HOS FOOT-DRAGGING REFLECTS FURTHER
LAURIOLA-SAGA INTRIGUE OR WHETHER HE REALLY FEELS THE HOS
WOULD BE DIMINISHED BY AN EXPRESS D2 RANK. IF APPROPRIATE AS
A WASSENAAR ADMINISTRATIVE MATTER, THE PATH OF LEAST
RESISTANCE WOULD BE TO SIMPLY DELETE ANY REFERENCE TO RANK IN
THE HOS LETTER OF APPOINTMENT. DE MOHR MAINTAINS THAT'S ALL
HE WANTS AND, NOTWITHSTANDING ALL THAT HAS GONE BEFORE IN THE
HOS MATTER, WE HAVE NEVER KNOWN HIM TO BE OVERTLY
DISINGENUOUS.

SEMBLER

UNCLASSIFIED

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2002ROME01548 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED