CWC: EGYPT SENDING NON-GOVERNMENTAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 004120 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2015 TAGS: PARM AORC EG OPCW CBW CWC SUBJECT: CWC: EGYPT SENDING NON-GOVERNMENTAL REPRESENTATIVE TO CYPRUS REGIONAL WORKSHOP OF NON-STATE PARTIES REF: A. TEL AVIV 3198 ¶B. STATE 94902 Classified by Economic-Political Counselor John Desrocher for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Poloff discussed ref B demarche with MFA cabinet member responsible for disarmament Sherif Kamel, who reported back on May 31 that Egypt would not send a governmental representative to the OPCW regional workshop in Cyprus June 13-15. Although the GOE would not participate officially, he noted, Egypt remained very interested in the issues under discussion and was helping coordinate the participation of a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs. ¶2. (C) Kamel stated that Egypt's non-participation was "not an issue of lack of interest," but because, without resolution of regional WMD issues (i.e., issues related to Israel),the GOE was simply not able to sign the CWC and therefore chose not to participate directly in these discussions. Reminded that Israel often took the opportunity to attend such conferences and that the dialogue/engagement itself had value, Kamel countered that Egypt proved its firm commitment to nonproliferation when it signed the NPT and hoped to make future significant WMD-related commitments "together" (with Israel). ¶3. (SBU) Director of the MFA Office of Arms Control and Disarmament Adel Ibrahim told Poloff June 1 that the MFA had been approached by six or seven western missions with a similar demarche on the OPCW workshop. Visit Embassy Cairo's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/cairo You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. GRAY