UZBEKS AGREE IN PRINCIPLE TO INCREASED COOPERATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 000989

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/RPM, AND INR/REA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/21/2017
TAGS: PREL PINR NATO AF UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKS AGREE IN PRINCIPLE TO INCREASED COOPERATION
WITH NATO

REF: 06 TASHKENT 2332

Classified By: CDA Brad Hanson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: A NATO delegation told NATO missions May 18
that discussions with the Government of Uzbekistan went well.
The Uzbeks have re-engaged in Brussels, agreed to work with
NATO's Central Asia Liaison Officer for the first time, and
appointed a military liaison of their own. Deputy Defense
Minister Niyazov questioned the logic of the EU extending
sanctions against Uzbekistan at the same time that NATO is
seeking broader engagement, but said that the political
dialogue would continue. During the discussions, the Uzbeks
did not rule out allowing all ISAF countries to use the
German air bridge at Termez to move personnel into and out of
Afghanistan, made a "firm commitment" to resume the Planning
and Review Process, and agreed in principle to intelligence
sharing, focused initially on Afghanistan. Despite the now
familiar promises of cooperation, Post urges caution,
particularly on intelligence sharing, to ensure that
cooperation is a two-way street. The Government of
Uzbekistan's words, as always, will need to be tested. End
Summary.


2. (C) A NATO delegation visiting Tashkent the week of May 14
provided a debrief to NATO missions on its discussions with
the Government of Uzbekistan. Delegation leader Peter Kovacs
said that the visit was a follow-up on NATO Special
Representative to Central Asia Robert Simmons' December visit
(reftel) and was intended to identify concrete steps that
NATO and Uzbekistan could take to move forward on
cooperation. He said Uzbekistan had re-engaged in
Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council activities in Brussels, had
agreed to work with NATO's Central Asia Liaison Officer for
the first time, and had recently appointed its own military
liaison to NATO. (Comment: The officer is resident in
Astana, technically still accredited as a Turkish diplomat
while he waits for Kazakh accreditation as a NATO liaison
officer, which explains the Uzbeks prior refusal to work with
him. End comment.)


3. (C) Deputy Minister of Defense Niyazov led the Uzbek side
in the discussions. Kovacs portrayed this as a positive
sign, as, in his opinion, Niyazov is in a position to make
decisions and firm commitments on behalf of the government.
Kovacs said that the Uzbeks clearly were worked up over the
May 14 European Union decision to extend sanctions, and saw
nothing positive in it. They asked about the logic of the
European Union extending sanctions at the same time as NATO
was looking to increase cooperation with Uzbekistan. The
NATO delegation, Kovacs said, stressed the need for continued
political dialogue. Niyazov agreed and said that the
dialogue would continue despite the EU's decision, and also
said that Uzbekistan appreciated the recent invitation for
its military Chief of Staff to attend the NATO Chiefs of
Defense meeting in May.


4. (C) Kovacs and other delegation members provided a summary
of their discussions in the following areas:

Afghanistan: The NATO delegation requested that Uzbekistan
permit all countries contributing to the International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to use the German air base
in Termez to move personnel in and out of Afghanistan and to
overfly Uzbek airspace. (Comment: At present, eight ISAF
nations, including the U.S., UK, and France, are not
permitted to use the German air bridge. End comment.) The
Uzbeks did not rule out allowing use of the German air
bridge. However, it said that countries wishing to use the
base in Termez or to overfly Uzbek airspace likely would need
to join the Uzbek-German bilateral agreement. The sides also
agreed on more cross-border cooperation in Afghanistan; the
details of what exactly this means will need to be worked out
between ISAF and the Uzbeks.

Defense Cooperation: Niyazov made a "firm commitment" that
the Uzbeks would rejoin the Planning and Review Process
(PARP),which has been dormant in the case of Uzbekistan

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since 2004. The Uzbeks said that they would respond to the
2006 PARP survey "soon," which the delegation took to mean
within the next two to three months. NATO hopes to conduct a
PARP assessment in Tashkent later in 2007, after which
Uzbekistan can start working on partnership goals agreed upon
by Allies. Niyazov said that Uzbekistan's initial priority
was to get the education and training needed to stand up a
peacekeeping battalion. Kovacs mentioned the Uzbek side
seemed to understand that an Uzbek request for equipment for
a peacekeeping battalion would be a non-starter with NATO at
this time.

Civil Emergency Planning: NATO agreed to provide the Uzbeks
with information on planning for chemical, biological,
nuclear, and radiological (CBRN) events. It also offered
additional training on NATO headquarters procedures and host
nation support issues in late 2007 or early 2008.

Security: NATO and the Government of Uzbekistan concluded an
agreement on the appropriate handling of classified
information in 1995, but there has not been an inspection
under the agreement for several years. The Uzbeks agreed to
a NATO Office of Security inspection, and also agreed to
consider a reciprocal inspection visit to Brussels. The NATO
delegation also raised the possibility of assisting
Uzbekistan to create a secure communications link with NATO
headquarters to facilitate the rapid sharing of classified
information.

Intelligence Sharing: Kovacs said that NATO is very
interested in tapping into Uzbek information networks in
Northern Afghanistan. The Uzbek side agreed in principle to
increased cooperation and asked that information sharing
focus initially on Afghanistan. Kovacs suggested that NATO
might consider resuming distribution, perhaps retroactively,
of classified assessments to Uzbekistan. He also suggested
that increased cross-border cooperation between ISAF and
Uzbekistan might include the exchange of tactical
intelligence. All of the details remain to be worked out
between Uzbekistan and NATO's Intelligence Liaison Unit.

Other: The NATO delegation urged the Uzbeks to resume the
past practice of sending visitors to NATO headquarters.
Niyazov said that Uzbekistan is willing to do so, but wants
greater say in trip participants and the topics that are
discussed. No agreement was reached. NATO is interested in
scientific cooperation with Uzbekistan, starting with
providing affordable internet connections at academic
institutions. The Uzbeks requested NATO assistance in
destroying stocks of melange, a rocket fuel residue, which
Kovacs said NATO is willing to consider if funding can be
found. (Comment: This is a very interesting request,
considering that in 2006 Uzbekistan rejected an already
funded OSCE project to destroy melange stockpiles. Post
supports the destruction of Uzbekistan's melange by either
NATO, OSCE, or a combination of the two. End comment.)


5. (C) Comment: Post disagrees with Kovacs' assessment of
Deputy Defense Minister Niyazov. Like all other Uzbek
officials, Niyazov has no authority to make independent
decisions or commit Uzbekistan to anything. Those decisions
will be made by President Karimov alone. Despite an apparent
decision that some resumed cooperation with NATO is in
Uzbekistan's interest, it remains to be seen how far Karimov
will go in making good on the usual general promises of
cooperation. Post urges caution, particularly on
intelligence sharing, to make sure that cooperation is a
two-way street. In particular, providing retroactive
intelligence products about Afghanistan to the Government of
Uzbekistan without first receiving substantive information in
kind rather than merely more lip service is a bad idea.
HANSON