KAZAKHSTAN: AUSTRIANS PURPORTEDLY PREPARING TO

S E C R E T ASTANA 002245 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/AGS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/12/2033 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KCRM AU KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: AUSTRIANS PURPORTEDLY PREPARING TO EXPEL KAZAKHSTANI DIPLOMAT REF: A. ASTANA 2162 ¶B. ASTANA 1560 (NOTAL) Classified By: Ambassador Richard Hoagland, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (S) On November 11, Canadian Embassy POLITICAL Counselor Dierdrah Kelley confirmed for us rumors that Austrian Embassy DCM Peter Hoehlmuller and his family had departed Kazakhstan several days previously on short notice and might not be returning to the country. Kelley, who is close to Hoehlmuller and his wife (and resides in the same building as them),explained that before he left, Hoehlmuller had told her confidentially, without the permission of Austrian Ambassador Ursula Fahringer, that Austria is preparing to expel a counselor-level diplomat from the Kazakhstani Embassy in Austria for his involvement in a September kidnapping attempt in Vienna against former National Security Committee (KNB) head -- and Rakhat Aliyev associate -- Alnur Musayev. Hoehlmuller was returning to Austria to assist the Austrian MFA in handling this sensitive matter. Ambassador Fahringer had insisted that Hoehlmuller's wife and children leave with him, apparently fearing for their safety. ¶2. (S) Hoehlmuller told Kelley that the Austrians want the Kazakhstanis to withdraw the diplomat quietly, rather than formally declaring him persona non grata. Hoehlmuller believes that the Kazakhstanis might expel an Austrian diplomat from Kazakhstan in retaliation. Since the Austrians only have two diplomats at their embassy -- Hoehlmuller and Ambassador Fahringer -- Hoehmuller would be the likely victim. Hence, he and his family might not be returning to Kazakhstan. The Austrians are also concerned about retaliation against Austrian businesses in Kazakhstan. ¶3. (S) Hoehlmuller informed Kelly that the last-minute cancellation of Austrian President Heinz Fischer's planned October visit to Kazakhstan was the result of Rakhat Aliyev's intervention. According to Hoehlmuller, Aliyev managed to directly relay a message to Fischer advising him not to go to Astana and describing the Kazakhstani government as "despotic." Ambassador Fahringer interceded to try to keep the visit on track, but to no avail. ¶4. (S) Hoehlmuller also confided to Kelley the details of another unusual incident in Kazakhstani-Austrian relations. In October, the Austrian Embassy in Astana received a diplomatic note requesting agrement for Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Sarybay to be appointed as Kazakhstan's new Ambassador to Austria. Quite oddly, the diplomatic note was dated months earlier -- sometime in May. Shortly after delivery of this agrement request, the Austrian Embassy received a second diplomatic note withdrawing it. (NOTE: On an unrelated note, Ambassador Fahringer got into a spat with the Kazakhstani MFA at the October 17 Common World Forum ministerial, when the MFA decided to recognize former Austrian parliamentarian and Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimmer as the head of Austria's delegation at the event. Fahringer explained to the Kazakhstanis that Schwimmer was just a private citizen and that she represented the Austrian government -- but the MFA nevertheless tried to seat Schwimmer in Austria's chair at the heads-of-delegation table and give him Austria's invitation to a private heads-of-delegation lunch with Foreign Minister Tazhin. Whether the MFA's treatment of Fahringer was simply the result of confusion or was a deliberate snub remains unclear. END NOTE.) HOAGLAND