YOUTH LEADER CLAIMS HE'S NOT TO BLAME FOR PNGS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 001224 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR SCA/CEN O'MARA, DEHART E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/21/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PINR KG SUBJECT: YOUTH LEADER CLAIMS HE'S NOT TO BLAME FOR PNGS REF: BISHKEK 614 BISHKEK 00001224 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) . ¶1. (C) On August 17, PolOff met with Alisher Mamasaliyev, a member of the Forum of Young Politicians and former member of the youth movement Kel-Kel. Mamasaliyev stated that the purpose of his visit was to inform the Embassy that the SNB called him in on August 16 to repeat its request that he denounce a former Embassy officer in writing for being a spy. Mamasaliyev said he declined, but suspected that he was not the only one to receive this request. He was concerned that the government would soon initiate a black PR campaign about him in light of his refusal. During the same meeting, the SNB also questioned Mamasaliyev,s dealings with AUCA, repeatedly asking him why he was involved with the American University and not, say, the Turkish University. Mamasaliyev said that he was organizing an anti-government protest for September at AUCA. ¶2. (C) According to Mamasaliyev, the SNB also contacted him one month prior to the PNGs to suggest that he provide details about his contact with the Embassy officer since it was planning to PNG two named officers; he declined to do so. Despite a warning from the SNB to not discuss the meeting with anyone, Mamasaliyev said he then informed one of the Embassy officers that the two would soon be PNGd. He said that the officer told him, &I have broken no laws so I am not worried about it.8 ¶3. (C) Mamasaliyev speculated that the SNB had successfully enlisted the support of several others. He said that after a tour of the Manas Air Base, which the Embassy and Base conduct on a periodic basis, he was given an envelope of photographs from the trip. He never told anyone in his office about the envelope, yet the SNB asked him about it during his interview one month prior to the PNGs and accused him of working for the named officer, calling him a &foreign spy.8 ¶4. (C) Mamasaliyev also talked about a call that he received from the media outlet 24.kg, asking him to respond to a statement that the Kyrgyz Ambassador to the U.S., Zamira Sadykova, made in an interview claiming the two Americans were PNGd because of information Mamasaliyev provided to the SNB. Mamasaliyev refuted the claim and threatened to sue Sadykova and President Bakiyev for slander. As a result of his threat of a lawsuit, he said, 24.kg did not publish that portion of the interview. ¶5. (C) On political issues, Mamasaliyev said that many intellectuals wanted the State Secretary and the Minister of Education removed, and he believed Bakiyev would approve these requests in an attempt to appease the opposition. He also asked how the U.S. Embassy had scaled back its efforts in Kyrgyzstan in light of the PNGs. PolOff responded that the Embassy has not changed its activities. Post continues to deliver the same messages, though the Kyrgyz government may not listen as attentively as it did previously. As an example, PolOff noted that Assistant Secretary Boucher, during his recent visit, met with a variety of groups including business leaders, civil society leaders, Muslim clerics, and government officials. Mamasaliyev appeared pleased to hear that the USG did not intend to scale back its efforts. ¶6. (C) COMMENT: President Bakiyev and other government officials, including Ambassador Sadykova, have told Ambassador that the government PNGd the two diplomats based on information that Mamasaliyev voluntarily provided to the SNB in May, at which point the SNB was &forced8 to investigate, uncovered the illegal activities of Embassy officers and initiated the PNG process. We find it an interesting coincidence that Mamasaliyev is organizing a BISHKEK 00001224 002.2 OF 002 demonstration on behalf of AUCA at a time when the Ministry of Education has suspended the law faculty licenses, raised questions about the accreditation of the University in general, and told the Ambassador that the SNB has informed him that it is AUCA which is organizing student demonstrations around the country. Mamasaliyev asked several times if PolOff was specifically replacing one of the PNGd officers. It may have just been curiosity; however, Post does not discount the possibility that Mamasaliyev was soliciting this information on behalf of the SNB. While it remains unclear which version is true -- Mamasaliyev as young democrat under pressure or Mamasaliyev as SNB informant -- we will be cautious in our dealings with Mamasaliyev. END COMMENT. YOVANOVITCH