KAZAKHSTAN: FOREIGN MINISTER ON GUANTANAMO

UNCLAS ALMATY 002953 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN - MUDGE, DEHART E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: FOREIGN MINISTER ON GUANTANAMO TRANSFERS, VISA RECIPROCITY, AND IAEA PROTOCOL Ref: Almaty 2935 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: During an August 17 meeting, Foreign Minister Tokayev told Ambassador Ordway that he would recommend to President Nazarbayev that Kazakhstan send a "fact finding" team to Afghanistan to investigate possible Kazakhstani participation in a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). Tokayev termed the idea of accepting the transfer of Kazakhstani citizens from Guantanamo as "still controversial," but predicted that the GOK would eventually accept their return. Tokayev also committed to look into the idea of a reciprocal extension of the length of visa validity, as well as Kazakhstan's ratification of the IAEA Additional Protocol. Discussion of Kazakhstan's CiO bid reported reftel. End summary. Guantanamo Detainees "Still Controversial" -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Ambassador Ordway opened the August 17 discussion by reiterating USG desire and readiness to transfer three Kazakhstani Guantanamo detainees back to Kazakhstan. Tokayev replied that he had just received a report from the MFA's Consular Services Department on the issue, and was now awaiting a briefing on a recent Ambassador Saudabayev / Assistant Secretary Boucher conversation on the topic. Then, he said, "we will formulate a position." The idea of accepting the detainees was "still controversial" in certain parts of the government, he said. One issue, he added, was Kazakhstan's difficulty in guaranteeing that the detainees would not engage in future terrorist acts. "We have no services to monitor the men," he explained. ¶3. (SBU) Ambassador Ordway told Tokayev that, while he understood Kazakhstan's caution on the issue, every country "has a fundamental obligation to receive its own citizens." Tokayev acknowledged the point, and allowed that, personally, he believed that "eventually we will take them back." Visa Reciprocity -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Ambassador Ordway briefed Tokayev on recent Embassy discussions with lower levels of the MFA on the possibility of reciprocally lengthening the validity of tourist visas. Lengthening the term of a visitor's visa to three years would save Kazakhstani citizens time and money lost in multiple trips to the Embassy consular section, Ambassador Ordway explained, and help promote ties between the two countries. Tokayev identified a potential complexity in the reciprocity negotiations -- a Kazakhstani visa, unlike an American one, not only allows for entry into Kazakhstan but also defines the allowed length of stay - but granted that he would "try to do something" to advance the issue. IAEA Additional Protocol -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Ambassador Ordway then asked Tokayev to investigate the possibility of Kazakhstan ratifying the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Additional Protocol. Doing so, he explained, would not be onerous, and would be a logical extension to Kazakhstan's significant achievements in the non-proliferation domain. Tokayev professed not to fully understand the issue, but mused that Kazakhstan's failure to ratify to date might be due to a "problem with additional inspections." He told the Ambassador that he would look into the issue. ORDWAY