PSI: BRUNEI NEEDS ACTION FORCING EVENT TO ANNOUNCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 000199 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MTS AND ISN/CPI E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2018 TAGS: KNNP MNUC PARM PREL BX SUBJECT: PSI: BRUNEI NEEDS ACTION FORCING EVENT TO ANNOUNCE ENDORSEMENT REF: A. SECSTATE 69343 ¶B. SECSTATE 68499 ¶C. BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 153 Classified By: CDA Justin Friedman, reasons 1.5 (b) & (d) ¶1. (C) Charge delivered ref A PSI meeting notes and ref B letter on June 30 to Datin Hajah Maimunah Elias, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MoFAT) and policy lead on PSI for the Government of Brunei (GoB). Charge stressed that while the USG considered the GoB's and Datin Maimunah's own participation in past PSI meetings as indication of support for PSI principles, we would welcome a formal statement of endorsement to clarify Brunei's position. ¶2. (C) Maimunah responded that MoFAT fully supported endorsing PSI and had assurances of high level support for this position. Maimunah continued that the GoB had been looking to formalize its support for PSI as a deliverable for a possible meeting between President Bush and the Sultan. Charge suggested that as the two leaders would both be at APEC later this year, this could be an appropriate time for Brunei to issue an endorsement. Maimunah took the idea on board, saying that she would raise this option with Foreign Minister II Pehin Lim Jock Seng. ¶3. (C) COMMENT: We take Datin Maimunah's response to mean that Foreign Minister Prince Mohamed and probably Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah himself have been briefed and indicated their support for PSI endorsement at an appropriate time. The Government of Brunei is driven to deliver decisions based on the Sultan's travel and meeting schedule. We also have an HSPD-6 terrorist screening information sharing agreement ready to be signed, if Prince Mohamed's concerns of the about the capacity of GoB institutions to manage such an information sharing arrangement can be allayed (ref C). The APEC Leaders Meeting in Peru offers the next and probably only near term opportunity for us to create an action forcing event that could push a decision out of the GoB. While the President's traditional group meeting with ASEAN leaders at APEC may be sufficient incentive, a bilateral meeting on the margins of APEC could be the push the GoB needs to secure endorsement of both PSI and the HSPD-6 agreement. Visit Embassy Bandar Seri Begawan's classified web site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/bandarseribeg awan/ FRIEDMAN