Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ALMATY3272
2006-09-18 06:44:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
US Office Almaty
Cable title:  

KAZAKHSTAN: BOUCHER AND TAZHIN COVER AFGHANISTAN,

Tags:  PREL PARM EINV ENRG SNAR IQ KZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5587
PP RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTA #3272/01 2610644
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 180644Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY ALMATY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6960
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//ASD-ISP/TSP-CP/CTR/ATSD-NCB-NT//
RHMFIUU/DTRA CT WASHINGTON DC//CTB
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 2074
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0256
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0381
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ALMATY 003272 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN (M. O'MARA)

NSC FOR MILLARD, MERKEL

E.O. 193056: N/A
TAGS: PREL PARM EINV ENRG SNAR IQ KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: BOUCHER AND TAZHIN COVER AFGHANISTAN,
NONPROLIFERATION, NARCOTICS AND THE CASPIAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ALMATY 003272

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN (M. O'MARA)

NSC FOR MILLARD, MERKEL

E.O. 193056: N/A
TAGS: PREL PARM EINV ENRG SNAR IQ KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: BOUCHER AND TAZHIN COVER AFGHANISTAN,
NONPROLIFERATION, NARCOTICS AND THE CASPIAN


1. (SBU) Summary: Kazakhstan will send a survey team to
Afghanistan in September to examine ways to support
reconstruction, Security Council secretary Tazhin told
Assistant Secretary Boucher during a September 8 meeting.
Boucher welcomed the news and encouraged Kazakhstan to look
at assistance projects and participation in a Provincial
Reconstruction Team. Tazhin raised a series of non-
proliferation issues, confirmed another rotation of troops
would be sent to Iraq in the near future, and highlighted
Kazakhstan's desire to obtain a naval vessel for security
operations on the Caspian. Boucher informed Tazhin that the
U.S. would soon fund a feasibility study for a Trans-Caspian
Gas Pipeline, and encouraged him to support the legal view
that the agreement of only the states where such a pipeline
would begin and end was necessary. Finally, Tazhin
highlighted the need for increased counternarcotics
cooperation. The Ambassador informed him that the U.S. had
invited top Kazakhstani counternarcotics officials to
Washington in December for discussions. End summary.


2. (U) Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central
Asian Affairs Richard Boucher met on September 8 in Astana
with Security Council secretary Marat Tazhin. The
Ambassador and Pol-Econ chief (notetaker) were also present.
From the Kazakhstani side, head of the MFA's European
Cooperation Department Yerkin Akinzhanov, head of the MFA's
Europe and Americas Department Serzhan Abdykarimov, and
Security Council official Saidmurat Tanirbergen also
participated.


3. (U) A/S Boucher opened the meeting by noting that the
U.S. government was looking forward to receiving President
Nazarbayev in Washington later this month, as well as to
Foreign Minister Tokayev's presence at the UN General
Assembly session in New York. Boucher said that he hoped to
use his meetings in Astana to discuss issues related to the
Nazarbayev visit, which the U.S. believes will be successful
due to the deepening and broadening of the bilateral

relationship in recent years.

--------------
Afghanistan: Survey Team in September
--------------


4. (SBU) Tazhin said that he was ready to respond to a
number of issues that the U.S. had raised with the
Kazakhstani government in recent months, beginning with
Afghanistan. The Kazakhstani government had formed a survey
team which would visit Kazakhstan in September to examine
ways to support reconstruction. Tanirbergen would represent
the Security Council on the team. There were two sets of
problems to examine, Tazhin stated: security and the
economic aspect. Kazakhstan needed to understand how it
could protect its people, as well as the scale and type of
assistance needed. Tazhin underscored the need for a clear
idea of what the actual results of Kazakhstani assistance
might be in the current environment. He said that the
Kazakhstani government would have a definite position on
participation following the survey team's visit.


5. (SBU) A/S Boucher welcomed the news of the survey team,
noting that the President would be glad to hear of a
Kazakhstani decision to take part in a Provincial
Reconstruction Team. There were a variety of these teams
operating in Afghanistan, Boucher noted, some in more
dangerous areas and some where the situation was calmer.
The Provincial Reconstruction Teams are an important tool to
help the Afghan government push its presence out to the
regions.


6. (SBU) Economic development is another important aspect of
bringing the benefits of government to the population,
Boucher added. There was much work to be done in the
priority areas of roads, electricity, and training. A/S
Boucher noted that he had shared a list of possible projects
with Ambassador Saudabayev in Washington; the U.S. assumed
that Kazakhstan would likely be most interested in projects
such as roads and electricity that support regional
integration. We hoped that there would be good news on

ALMATY 00003272 002 OF 003


Kazakhstani engagement in Afghanistan during President
Nazarbayev's visit to Washington.

--------------
Non-Proliferation Issues
--------------


7. (SBU) Tazhin informed A/S Boucher that Kazakhstan had
taken steps to increase security at the Semipalatinsk test
site in response to concerns expressed by the U.S. He
stated that "according to the original agreement,"
Kazakhstan linked the transfer of pathogen strains to the
U.S. to the construction of a Central Reference Laboratory,
which had now been pushed back to 2009. Tazhin said that
Kazakhstan could discuss strain transfer "only when the U.S.
had fulfilled its obligations." Turning to Stepnogorsk,
Tazhin repeated well-known complaints regarding the failed
defense conversion project to establish a pharmaceutical
tableting line in the mid-1990s. He claimed that there had
been no response to the GOK's December 2005 diplomatic note
on the issue.


8. (SBU) The Ambassador welcomed the assurances regarding
security at Semipalatinsk. He pushed back on the strain
transfer issue, noting that the Biological Threat Reduction
program consisted of two independent parts: cooperative
joint research on pathogens, and efforts to improve
Kazakhstan's ability to detect and protect pathogens. The
U.S. sees no logic in linking the two areas of cooperation,
and had in fact explicitly rejected a linkage between strain
transfer and construction of the Central Reference
Laboratory during negotiation of the agreement. Finally,
the Ambassador noted, construction of the laboratory had
been pushed back due to repeated delays in negotiations by
the Kazakhstani side. A decision to remove the equipment at
Stepnogorsk had been taken, the Ambassador added; he would
look into the status of the formal reply.

--------------
Iraq: Presence Becoming More Difficult
--------------


9. (SBU) Tazhin told A/S Boucher that the Kazakhstani
government was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain
a contingent in Iraq due to the worsening security situation
and rising domestic pressure. Kazakhstani troops had been
fired on five days before. Nevertheless, Tazhin said,
Kazakhstan will send another rotation of troops to Iraq in a
few days. He noted that Kazakhstan's contribution in Iraq
was primarily political. Boucher told Tazhin that the U.S.
welcomes the presence of Kazakhstani troops in Iraq and was
working to ensure the best possible security for them. He
stressed that Kazakhstan's contribution was not just
political; the contingent was doing extremely important
ordinance disposal work that had saved many lives. The
Ambassador added that the U.S. was working to ensure that
General Sembinov would have good meetings regarding the
security situation when he accompanied the next rotation to
Iraq.

--------------
Caspian Security
--------------


10. (SBU) Kazakhstan was pleased with the level of
cooperation with the U.S. on Caspian Security, Tazhin said,
particularly the dialogue between the Ministry of Defense
and the Department of Defense. Kazakhstan was interested in
obtaining a 1,000 ton naval vessel within the framework of
U.S. assistance. A/S Boucher confirmed that the U.S. was
aware of Kazakhstan's interest in obtaining a naval vessel
and was examining the question.


11. (SBU) A/S Boucher noted that the U.S. was close to
approving funding for a feasibility study on the Trans-
Caspian Gas Pipeline. After careful analysis of the legal
situation, Boucher said, the U.S. firmly believed that only
the agreement of the countries where the pipeline begins and
ends is necessary. Russia and Iran were claiming that all

ALMATY 00003272 003 OF 003


states bordering the Caspian had to agree, which would make
the plan impossible to implement and undercut President
Nazarbayev's strategic objective of diversifying
Kazakhstan's energy export routes. Boucher encouraged
Tazhin to ensure that Kazakhstan pushed back against this
legal view. Tazhin said that Kazakhstan had consulted
numerous maritime law experts and agreed completely with the
position Boucher had expressed. Unfortunately the idea was
becoming prevalent that while littoral states control their
own portion of the Caspian shoreline, all controlled the
seabed in common, Tazhin noted. This would lead to disputes
among the Caspian states, he said. A/S Boucher offered
consultations with U.S. maritime law experts.

--------------
Counternarcotics
--------------


12. (SBU) Tazhin highlighted the seriousness of the problem
of narcotics trafficking for Kazakhstan, noting that drug
use was rising among Kazakhstanis. With Afghanistan so
near, Tazhin explained, Kazakhstan was unable to fight the
problem on its own; international assistance was required.
The international community was just "watching the process
calmly," Tazhin claimed. He told A/S Boucher that the
Kazakhstani government's strategy was to target large
narcotics traffickers. Tazhin highlighted the need to
combat narcotrafficking before "political spheres" became
involved, as had happened in neighboring regions. Boucher
responded that the U.S. considered counternarcotics
cooperation with Kazakhstan to be quite strong, but was
always searching for ways to strengthen it. The Ambassador
added that the U.S. had invited Minister of Interior
Mukhamedzhanov and other senior officials to Washington in
early December for meetings with U.S. counterparts to
discuss cooperation on drug trafficking and demand
reduction.

ORDWAY