CWC - UAE/U.S. HOST COUNTRY AGREEMENT - NOT YET

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 000606

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
NOFORN

STATE FOR NEA/ARP, ISN/CB
THE HAGUE FOR CWC DEL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/12/2017
TAGS: KTIA PARM PREL CWC AE
SUBJECT: CWC - UAE/U.S. HOST COUNTRY AGREEMENT - NOT YET
READY TO SIGN

REF: A. SECSTATE 46124

B. 06 ABU DHABI 1928

Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison for reasons 1.4 (b & d).


1. (C/NF) On April 10, Econchief met with MFA Director of
International Organizations (and MFA representative the UAE's
Non-Proliferation committee) Yacoub Al-Hosani to ask about
the status of the host country agreement on the conduct of
Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) Inspections. Al-Hosani was
the UAEG official who had met with Dr. David Cooper, Director
for Non Proliferation Policy in the Office of the Secretary
of Defense, to discuss the agreement in April 2006.
Al-Hosani said that the agreement is still under study by the
UAE and that there is "no consensus yet" on approval.


2. (C/NF) "Speaking informally," Al-Hosani said that the main
concern about the agreement -- by other members of the
committee -- was whether the UAE could meet both the
requirements of the CWC and the host country agreement,
especially given the short period of time required to respond
to challenge inspections. He added that "some members" of
the committee questioned the need for the agreement. The
UAEG can inform the USG informally if it hears of any
inspections that might affect U.S. assets, he noted. He
added that, as the U.S. was a member of the CWC committee, he
doubted that any inspection would take it by surprise.


3. (C/NF) In response to Econchief's question about whether
there would be any additional information that the U.S. could
provide to help convince the UAEG to conclude the agreement,
Al-Hosani asked whether other regional actors had signed the
agreement. He noted that the UAE had informally pulsed some
of its neighbors (Saudi Arabia and Qatar) and that neither
had signed such an agreement.


4. (C/NF) Comment: Although Al-Hosani stressed the technical
nature of the agreement and referred to his "conversations"
with other committee members, he was clearly aware of the
issue. It was also clear that the UAE harbors serious
reservations about this agreement. UAE officials are more
likely to continue to "study" the agreement rather than come
back with a clear answer, especially if that answer is
negative. Providing the UAE with information on other
countries that have concluded the agreement, or further
information on how the UAE could fulfill the terms of both
agreements, might move the UAE forward. We do not, however,
expect a favorable resolution quickly. End Comment.
SISON