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.

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ARTICLE VII OUTREACH - PADILLA INITIATIVE
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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