DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON IMPLEMENTING UNSCR 1747

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUALA LUMPUR 000880 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2027 TAGS: PREL PARM ETTC UNSC IR MY SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON IMPLEMENTING UNSCR 1747 REF: STATE 67462 Classified By: Political Section Chief Mark D. Clark for reasons 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (SBU) On May 17, we delivered reftel demarche to Mr. Bala Chandran Tharman, Principal Assistant Secretary in the Malaysian Foreign Ministry's Multilateral Political Affairs Division. He stated there was "no question" that Malaysia was committed to enforcement of all UN Security Council Resolutions, including 1747. He would not comment on how broad Malaysia's interpretation of the prohibitions would be and offered no response when it was suggested that existing structures, such as the Wassenaar Arrangement, could be used as tools to develop Malaysia's guidelines. ¶2. (U) Regarding Malaysia's report on UNSCR 1737, Bala Chandran said that Malaysia was still working on its submission and hoped to have it finalized soon. ¶3. (C) Comment: Our previous conversations and experience suggest that Malaysia's interpretation of 1747 would be influenced by the approach taken by China, neighboring ASEAN states, and key OIC and NAM members. Malaysia as a matter of general principle does not support sanctions as a diplomat tool, and will not pursue sanctions enforcement with enthusiasm. The GOM, however, does not wish to be seen as out of step on international adherence to important UN decisions or embarrassed by an obvious violation by its nationals of UN sanctions. LAFLEUR