ATTORNEY GENERAL OPENS WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR

UNCLAS NASSAU 000455 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR RBUDDEN, ISN/CPI JPURCELL, ISN/CPI MSTUMPF E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MNUC PARM PGOV PHSA PREL KNMP BF SUBJECT: ATTORNEY GENERAL OPENS WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR PROLIFERATION SECURITY INITIATIVE REF: A. NASSAU 332 ¶B. 06 STATE 161506 ¶C. 06 NASSAU 1512 ¶D. 06 STATE 50811 ¶E. 06 NASSAU 1404 ¶1. (U) This is an action message. Please see paragraph 4. ¶2. (SBU) During his farewell call on Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson on April 4, Ambassador Rood reiterated his interest in seeing the U.S. and The Bahamas conclude a Proliferation Security Initiative agreement (PSI) -- a point he had been making publicly in his farewell speeches within the country. He noted to Maynard Gibson that PSI is a U.S. priority that will strengthen U.S. and Bahamian ability to combat weapons proliferation on the high seas. ¶3. (SBU) Having previously discussed the issue with Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell, who noted that he had recently received a legal analysis from the Attorney-General's office about PSI, Ambassador Rood questioned Gibson about her conclusions and recommendations to the Minister. He noted that Mitchell had indicated that the memo suggested the Comprehensive Maritime Agreement between the U.S. and The Bahamas adequately addressed PSI issues (reftel A.) ¶4. (SBU) Gibson responded that, at the Ambassador's request, her office had reconsidered the matter and determined that PSI "was now a priority," that the Bahamian government "was eager to expedite agreement" and that "we would like to sit down and hammer something out." Gibson expressed an interest and willingness to have her staff and other Bahamian officials sit down with USG PSI experts for technical discussions to finalize agreement. ¶5. (U) Post requests State's assistance in securing Bahamian agreement on a PSI agreement. Post specifically requests that a team of PSI legal and policy experts travel to Nassau for discussions at a mutually convenient time to be coordinated with the Bahamian government (reftel B.) ¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: With Bahamian elections scheduled for May 2, and Gibson's attention firmly on her campaign, it may be difficult to hold Gibson to her word on PSI. Nevertheless, we are encouraged by her willingness to move forward and believe that, should she remain in her current post, we would be able to follow up on this commitment. We note that her belief that most of what we are seeking in the PSI is already covered under our Comprehensive Maritime Agreement tracks closely with our preferred approach to this issue (reftels B-E) and offers an approach that we should be able to build on in bringing this to a successful conclusion. HARDT