CWC HOST COUNTRY AGREEMENT UPDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L MUSCAT 000237 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR ISN/CB (JHANLINE) AND NEA/ARPI THE HAGUE ALSO FOR CWC DEL E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/20/2016 TAGS: PARM KTIA PREL MU SUBJECT: CWC HOST COUNTRY AGREEMENT UPDATE REF: A. 05 MUSCAT 1593 AND PREVIOUS ¶B. 05 STATE 191328 Classified By: Ambassador Richard L. Baltimore III. Reason: 1.4 (b, d). ¶1. (C) On February 18, Pol/Econ Chief called on MFA International Organizations Chief Ambassador Talib bin Miran al-Raisi to inquire on the status of Oman's reply to the Embassy's diplomatic note of July 27, 2005, conveying the USG's revised text of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) Host Country Agreement (HCA). P/E Chief noted having heard that other elements of the Omani government may be confused as to the basic purpose of the HCA. Ambassador al-Raisi apologized for not having an up-to-the-minute status, saying that his office was sharing responsibility for winning approval of the draft text with the MFA's legal department. The MFA legal department had presented the text to the Ministry of Defense, but Ambassador al-Raisi was not briefed on MOD's reactions. ¶2. (C) Underscoring that MFA was satisfied with the USG's revised text, Ambassador al-Raisi could only speculate that MOD may wonder why the HCA is necessary given the U.S.-Oman Base Access Agreement. P/E Chief replied that he was under the impression that the Access Agreement did not obviate either state's obligations under the CWC, hence the need for the HCA. Reminding Ambassador al-Raisi of his interest in getting a status update, P/E Chief asked al-Raisi to inform the Embassy if MOD or any other relevant part of the Omani government would benefit from a direct dialogue with USG experts such as had passed through the region last December (ref B). Ambassador al-Raisi thought that might prove a helpful option. He reiterated his wish that we could divulge the status of HCA negotiations with other GCC neighbors, but understood the confidentiality reasons why we could not. BALTIMORE