CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): WRAP-UP FOR THE

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000867 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR ISN/CB, VCI/CCB, L/ACV, IO/S SECDEF FOR OSD/ISP JOINT STAFF FOR DD PMA-A FOR WTC COMMERCE FOR BIS (GOLDMAN) NSC FOR LEDDY WINPAC FOR WALTER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM PREL CWC SUBJECT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): WRAP-UP FOR THE WEEK ENDING MAY 4 This is CWC-40-07. -------------- ARTICLE VII OUTREACH - PADILLA INITIATIVE -------------- ¶1. (U) The Technical Secretariat held a regional workshop of the National Authorities of the GCC States on the practical implementation of the CWC April 29-May 2 in Kuwait City. All GCC States were scheduled to attend. Four of these States - Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE - are of high priority under the Padilla initiative because of their chemical industry and transshipment importance. Also, several of these States Parties approached the U.S. representatives that attended the regional meeting held in Jakarta last fall, expressing an interest to begin a dialogue regarding industry implementation of the CWC. ¶2. (U) With this in mind, the Del approached the TS earlier this year about the possibility of attending the workshop to facilitate outreach to these SPs. The TS agreed with this plan and even asked the Del to make certain presentations during the workshop. However, the TS insisted that final approval for U.S. attendance would have to be granted by the Kuwaiti hosts once the details were finalized. ¶3. (U) Unfortunately, the Kuwaitis did not give final approval to the details of the workshop, including the dates, until April 20. Ambassador Javits immediately attempted to contact the Kuwaiti ambassador in The Hague to formally request permission for the U.S. to attend. As the Kuwaiti ambassador was out of the country, a written request was presented to the Kuwaiti embassy, which they forwarded to capital. Several days later, the Del received a response from the Kuwaitis stating that the request could not be accommodated by their National Authority due to the short notice. ¶4. (SBU) In further discussions with Sergei Kisselev, the TS coordinator for the workshop, he speculated that the reason for the Kuwaitis turning down the request may have included other reasons. Jordan and Yemen, which are not GCC members, attended last year's GCC workshop, and the TS had asked Kuwait to consider inviting them this year. Kuwait declined. The implication was be that, given that Kuwait turned down these other requests for participation, they felt in a difficult position to honor the Del request. ¶5. (U) Del will continue to look for other opportunities to work bilaterally with these States Parties. ¶6. (U) Javits sends. ARNALL