FM ZARIFI ON OPENING THE BRIDGE AND DUSHANBE SUMMITS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 001523

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/24/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID ELTN MASS TI
SUBJECT: FM ZARIFI ON OPENING THE BRIDGE AND DUSHANBE SUMMITS

REF: A) DUSHANBE 1481 B) DUSHANBE 1467 C) CEN-DUSHANBE OCTOBER 19, 2007 EMAIL
REGARDING JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

CLASSIFIED BY: Tracey A. Jacobson, Ambassador, US Embassy
Dushanbe, State.
REASON: 1.4 (d)

1. (SBU) SUMMARY. At an hour-long meeting October 22 requested
by Ambassador, Foreign Minister Zarifi:

--admitted that the government had not decided which agency
would be in charge of the facilities including the U.S.-funded
bridge at the Nizhniy Pyanzh border, but said they were working
toward a decision;

--agreed that the government would allow trucks from Pakistan
carrying cement for the Japanese road project at Nizhniy Pyanzh
to cross the bridge starting October 27;

--promised joint meetings with all relevant agencies for the
upcoming Customs and Border assessment, including meetings with
Afghan border authorities at Nizhniy Pyanzh;

--asked for (another) formal demarche regarding recent problems
faced by the National Democratic Institute, and claimed no
knowledge of any decision on Jehovah's Witnesses;

--gave a half-hour readout of the recent CIS, Collective
Security Treaty Organization, and Eurosec summits in Dushanbe.
End Summary.

BABY STEPS FORWARD AT THE BRIDGE


2. (SBU) Zarifi confirmed information DCM had received last
week (ref A) regarding the GOTI decision to allow Pakistani
cement trucks to cross the Nizhniy Pyanzh bridge for the
Japanese road construction project. He said the MFA had to
apply "extreme pressure" to the State Committee for National
Security to get agreement on use of the bridge. Zarifi said
most in the government understand that the bridge is essential
to the development of regional economic integration, and that
the ferry at Nizhniy Pyanzh is not a reliable alternative -
further, there are already 270 vehicles waiting to cross the
bridge from the Afghan side. Zarifi attributed the rash of
negative press about the bridge from Uzbek sources to
"jealousy."


3. (SBU) Zarifi admitted bridge management is still an open
question. The MFA is currently collecting input from all
concerned agencies and ministries to prepare a decision memo for
the president on which organization will be in charge and how
agencies will cooperate at the bridge. Ambassador urged the
earliest possible decision in order to ensure that the upcoming
Customs and Border assessment/training visit will be as useful
as possible, and to allow us to order appropriate furniture and
equipment for the ancillary border facilities in time for their
completion in December. Zarifi demurred on a timeline for a
decision, but assured the Ambassador that the visiting
assessment would get joint meetings in Dushanbe, and meetings
with relevant Tajik and Afghan authorities at the border.

BUT BACKWARDS ON DEMOCRATIC REFORM


4. (SBU) Ambassador raised increased harassment of NDI Amcit
Director (ref B) and reports of a Ministry of Culture decision
to ban the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses as disappointing
examples of steps backwards in the areas of democratic reform
and human rights. Zarifi feigned ignorance of the decision to
issue only a one-month visa to Bader, and appeared genuinely
surprised by the Jehovah's Witness decision. On NDI, Zarifi
agreed that the harassment sounded out of line but asked for an
official communication on the subject. Ambassador said she was
expecting to receive demarches from Washington on both topics in
the nearest future (Note: We have sent SCA/CEN proposed
language for these demarches separately). When, later in the
meeting, Zarifi insisted the time had come to look ahead to an
official visit for Rahmon to Washington (his last was five years
ago),Ambassador said positive steps forward in the area of
democratization were essential before we could consider a visit.
Especially given the Administration's focus on human rights,
an invitation would be impossible absent registration and
support for U.S. NGOs working in the area of democratic reform
and human rights.

SUMMIT READOUT


5. (SBU) Zarifi said he was pleased by the three Dushanbe
summits, as there was "real dialogue" and the organizations have
evolved from Russia-led clubs to organizations where the smaller
states can have an impact and are "not dominated by larger
states." He has promised a more detailed readout on migration,
WTO accession, and other issues at a briefing for European
Ambassadors (plus the U.S. Ambassador later this week). He
lamented that as usual, Uzbekistan was the main barrier to
progress. On cooperation with Afghanistan, all the other
member-countries were in favor, but Uzbekistan was adamantly
opposed. Only after "pressure" from the other heads of state
did Karimov agree to include a desire to work more closely with

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Afghanistan in the communiquis. The participation of the OSCE
Secretary General and UNODC Chief was very helpful in this

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regard.


6. (SBU) Ambassador asked specifically about media reports that
Uzbekistan had agreed to permit the transit of electricity from
Turkmenistan across its territory to Tajikistan. Zarifi replies
that getting this far had required "extensive diplomatic
maneuvering" and in the end, since the Turkmen had refused to go
to Tashkent, and the Uzbeks had refused to go to either Ashgabat
or Dushanbe to sign a document, the three sides each signed
their version of the agreement in their own capitals. The
Uzbeks had demanded that Tajikistan pay USD 5 million for
renovation of the transmission lines; the Tajik side agreed to
pay this cost by eliminating 5 million dollars of the debt
Uzbekistan has with Barqi Tojik, the Tajik energy authority.
The Uzbeks then demanded cash up front, saying they'd pay the
debt later. The Uzbeks have also insisted on payment of transit
fees in advance. Zarifi said the Uzbeks keep throwing up new
obstacles, but he's optimistic there will be some gas deliveries
as early as November. "We don't want a repeat of the desperate
energy situation we had last winter, but the Uzbek authorities
want the Tajik people to be dissatisfied." Zarifi says he sat
in on the closed Heads of State sessions, and had an opportunity
to observe Karimov closely. "I learned a lot about the illness
of depression when I was living in the United States. This man
exhibits all the symptoms of someone suffering deep depression.
There's nothing wrong with all of his other organs, but there's
definitely a problem with his brain," insisted Zarifi.


7. (C) COMMENT. While we are heartened to see that MFA, at
least, is taking steps towards coordination and progress in
managing the Nizhniy Pyanzh border crossing, we remain
disappointed that the government in general, and Zarifi in
particular, appear less and less willing to engage seriously on
issues of democratic reform and human rights. We must ensure
that every interaction with Tajik officials, at every level,
includes the message that our relationship can only grow in a
balanced way, and continued security and economic cooperation
require progress on human rights as well. End Comment.
JACOBSON