Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04MADRID2230
2004-06-14 17:44:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Madrid
Cable title:  

SPANISH DEPUTY FM CONFIRMS INCREASED AFGHANISTAN

Tags:  PREL PGOV MOPS IZ SP UNSC KICC 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 002230 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/WE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/14/2014
TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS IZ SP UNSC KICC
SUBJECT: SPANISH DEPUTY FM CONFIRMS INCREASED AFGHANISTAN
PARTICIPATION


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires J. Robert Manzanares, reasons 1.4(b) a
nd (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 002230

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/WE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/14/2014
TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS IZ SP UNSC KICC
SUBJECT: SPANISH DEPUTY FM CONFIRMS INCREASED AFGHANISTAN
PARTICIPATION


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires J. Robert Manzanares, reasons 1.4(b) a
nd (d).


1. (C) Summary: Spanish Deputy Foreign Minister Bernardino
Leon apologized to Charge June 14 on behalf of the Spanish
government for negative remarks the Spanish first vice
president made about Secretary Rumsfeld June 4. Leon also
confirmed Spain will increase its participation in
Afghanistan by providing "tactical assistance" and by
increasing its troop presence. Leon additionally said that
if the U.S. needs the GOS to vote in favor of ICC rollover to
prevail on the resolution, the GOS would do so. Finally,
Leon said Spain does not plan to backtrack on its Iraq
Donors' Conference commitments, only to reassess priorities
for spending the money. End summary.

--------------
Official Apology
--------------


2. (C) Leon requested the meeting with Charge in order to
apologize for remarks First Vice President de la Vega made
about Secretary Rumsfeld June 4. In response to incorrect
reports June 4 that Secretary Rumsfeld had said in Singapore
that Spain was among the countries terrorists might target
over the summer, de la Vega said Rumsfeld's supposed remarks
were "imprudent and irresponsible." Leon said he was
apologizing "officially on behalf of the government of Spain"
for de la Vega's "inappropriate remarks," which were based on
an incorrect report by the official Spanish news agency EFE.
Leon added the government was asking EFE to begin an
investigation of how the inaccuracies occurred. He asked
Charge to transmit the apology to the State Department and to
Secretary Rumsfeld.

SIPDIS


3. (C) Charge replied that he would do so and had no plans
to make the apology public, but asked Leon to work to curb
the anti-American comments being made by members of the
Zapatero government, which were simply unconstructive. Leon
said the Zapatero government is not anti-American and
attributed some of the more intemperate comments to
electioneering. Charge observed the elections were now over

and it was time for Spain to show with concrete examples that
it wants to cooperate with the U.S.

--------------
Spain to Up Afghanistan Participation
--------------


4. (C) Leon said Spain was already showing it means to have
strong relations with the U.S. and pointed to Afghanistan.
He was happy to report that the Council of Ministers June 11
approved sending helicopters, transport planes and a hospital
unit to Afghanistan. Also, Spain was sending additional
troops to Afghanistan as part of the Eurocorps deployment,
and would send a battalion to further augment its presence
sometime in the future. He was not certain about specific
numbers, deferring to the Defense Ministry.


5. (C) Leon did not know precisely when the GOS would make
this decision public but promised to provide the Charge with
a statement or other information the USG could make public in
the next several days. He also said the GOS had not yet made
a decision on whether to participate in a provincial
reconstruction team.

--------------
A Spaniard as UN Envoy to Iraq?
--------------


6. (C) Leon then suggested to Charge that one way for Spain
to show it was maintaining its commitment to Iraq and had
patched things up with the U.S. would be for the next UN
special representative for Iraq to be a Spaniard. The GOS,
in fact, already has someone picked out, according to Leon:
Spain's Consul General in Washington. Leon said the diplomat
is well and favorably known to the U.S. and is also an
Arabist. Charge said he did not know how the USG would react
to Leon's suggestion but would transmit it to Washington.


7. (C) Charge mentioned that recent remarks by Foreign
Minister Moratinos suggesting Spain was "re-examining" its
financial commitments made at the Iraq Donors' Conference
would not help a Spanish candidate for the UN position. Leon
said he was prepared to say "officially" that Spain "was not
re-examining its commitments." Rather, Spain was taking
another look at priorities for spending the money it has
committed. Spain would not back away from the commitments it
made in Madrid last October, said Leon.

--------------
ICC Rollover: We'll Be There for You
--------------


8. (C) Charge then reminded Leon that in previous
consultations on the ICC rollover resolution in the UNSC,
Spain had told the U.S. that it would abstain on the
resolution unless the U.S. needed Spain's vote for the
resolution to pass. Charge told Leon that we now need
Spain's vote to win and hoped they would follow through on
their promise. Leon said if the U.S. needs Spain's vote for
the resolution to pass, "we'll be there for you." And there
would be no need for Secretary Powell to call Foreign
Minister Moratinos again on the issue.

--------------
Comment
--------------


9. (C) Leon's apology for de la Vega's remarks was welcome
but his comments on Afghanistan, Iraq and the ICC were more
important. Leon's statement that the GOS has made the
decision to augment its presence in Afghanistan was
encouraging. When and how Spain will do this, of course,
remains to be seen. On Iraq, while Leon's suggestion that a
Spaniard might be appropriate as the next UN envoy to Iraq
seemed a bit off the mark, his confirmation that Spain did
not plan to "re-examine" its financial commitments made to
Iraq at the Madrid Donors' Conference was also positive, if
that proves to be the case. Finally, Spain has said it "will
be there" for us on the ICC rollover if we need them. The
Zapatero government will have to fulfill its commitment to
the U.S. on this issue or blatantly fail to keep its word.


MANZANARES