Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ISLAMABAD3350
2008-10-22 13:00:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Islamabad
Cable title:  

BOUCHER OUTLINES WAY FORWARD FOR "FRIENDS OF A

Tags:  PREL PTER PGOV PK 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ISLAMABAD 003350 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/04/2018
TAGS: PREL PTER PGOV PK
SUBJECT: BOUCHER OUTLINES WAY FORWARD FOR "FRIENDS OF A
DEMOCRATIC PAKISTAN"

REF: STATE 110863

Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, for reasons 1.4 (b)(d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ISLAMABAD 003350

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/04/2018
TAGS: PREL PTER PGOV PK
SUBJECT: BOUCHER OUTLINES WAY FORWARD FOR "FRIENDS OF A
DEMOCRATIC PAKISTAN"

REF: STATE 110863

Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, for reasons 1.4 (b)(d)


1. (C) Summary. At an October 20 meeting in Islamabad
hosted by President Zardari, representatives of Pakistan,
the U.S., the UK, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and China discussed
the organization and possible goals of the Friends of
Democratic Pakistan group. They agreed to Foreign
Secretary Bashir's suggestion that the next step be heads
of mission consultations of the core group in Islamabad to
outline the agenda of a proposed November Friends meeting.
They accepted Ambassador Boucher's suggestions that: (1)
the Abu Dhabi meeting be hosted by Pakistan and the UAE. The
Foreign Ministry pushed for the ministerial level but
afterwards acknowledged that the late nature of the
invitation might require some countries to participate at
the sub-ministerial level; (2) Pakistan should prepare and
circulate papers outlining its needs, with a probable focus
on security and economic development; and, (3) Pakistan would
prepare and circulate a draft organizational plan addressing
membership policy
and the role of the UN. Boucher and UK representative Philip
Barton pressed for asking the UN to organize a secretariat
for the Friends group; Zardari quickly squelched Bashir's
concern about UN
involvement, but the Foreign Ministry has lingering concerns.
The UAE and China Charges d'Affaires were in listening mode.



2. (C) Urged by Saudi Ambassador Asseri to formulate
specific and blunt proposals for assistance, Zardari
quipped that he wanted "oil from the oil states, money from
the rich states and diplomacy from the UK" but promised a
presentation at the Emirates' meeting on Pakistan's needs.
Asseri stressed any solutions to Pakistan's problems should
be "home grown" and cautioned that the Friends group should
not be focused on obtaining cash from members. Zardari
accepted Saudi King Abdullah's offer to visit the Kingdom
in early November and suggested he would like to participate
in the November 12-13 interfaith dialogue sponsored by
Saudi Arabia at the UN in New York. Finance Minister
Tareen gave a brief presentation and promised donors
transparency, documentation and that Pakistan would not

"fritter away" donor aid. End Summary.


3. (C) On October 20, President Asif Zardari chaired a
meeting of the Friends of a Democratic Pakistan (Zardari
suggested adding "democratic" in a meeting with Assistant
Secretary for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher on
September 19, see septel) in Islamabad. Also attending
were: (U.S.) Assistant Secretary for South and Central
Asia Richard Boucher, Ambassador, Polcouns/notetaker;
(Pakistan) Prime Minister Yousaf Gilani, Minister for
Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman, Finance
Minister Shaukat Tareen, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir,
and Additional Secretary for South Asia Aizaz Chaudhry;
(UK) Foreign Office Director Philip Barton, Tom Drew,
Polcouns UK Embassy; (Saudi Arabia) Ambassador Ali Awadh
Asseri;
(UAE) Charge Abdullah Ali Al-Mansoori; (China) Charge Yaho
Jing.


4. (C) Zardari opened the meeting by thanking the
participants and suggesting the group build on preliminary
discussions in New York at the inaugural Friends meeting to
define the process of how to bring a regional perspective
to helping Pakistan deal with the effects of militancy and
a global economic recession.


5. (C) Boucher noted that Pakistan has many
friends who are ready to join the group across geographic
boundaries. He recommended, however, that there be a core
steering group that would work together by consensus.
Boucher suggested that the goal of this meeting should be
to determine how to work together, how to add new members,
what role the United Nations could play in providing a
secretariat, and to set the agenda for the next meeting in
the UAE. He noted that he had met with Prime Minister

ISLAMABAD 00003350 002 OF 004


Gilani and was pleased to hear a report of what the
Pakistani government was already doing; the focus of the
Friends group, he proposed, would be to coordinate how
other countries could fill in the gaps to support Pakistani
efforts.


6. (C) Saudi Ambassador Asseri said that he could not
comment on Saudi goals because the concept of the group was
at this point too vague and recommended the group set a
"crystal clear" agenda. He re-iterated that King Abdullah
looked forward to President Zardari's visit to Saudi
Arabia. For now, however, Riyadh was in listening mode
regarding proposals for the Friends.


7. (C) UK representative Barton said the UK strongly
supported efforts to establish the Friends and agreed the
group should address broad areas, especially the fight
against extremism and the need to support economic
development. He echoed Ambassador Boucher's call for a
small steering group that could allow an inclusive approach
to add members but still be manageable. Barton said the UK
would support a secretariat managed by the UN.


8. (C) The Chinese Charge reiterated his country's
support for the position adopted at the September 26
Friends meeting (see reftel). The UAE Charge merely said Abu
Dhabi's support for Pakistan was strong.


9. (C) Zardari then launched into a long statement
directed primarily at the Saudi Ambassador. He noted the
Saudis had an excellent program for converting terrorists
that Pakistan wanted to emulate, asked that the imam from
the Kabaa return to Pakistan to preach a moderate message
at the Faisal mosque in Islamabad, pledged to strengthen
Pakistan's anti-terrorism laws to allow for longer
detention periods, urged the U.S. to share more satellite
imagery to support Pakistani ground forces' actions, called
for improved disaster management in the wake of the
Marriott bombing, repeated his request for UK armored
personnel carriers, noted that every bomb translates into a
$500 million loss from his economy, expressed
satisfaction that lashkars (tribal militias) were emerging
to support Pakistani Army action but said the lashkars were
poorly equipped with pre-World War I rifles, acknowledged
that Pakistan had received $7 billion in international
aid but said most was spent on the military, called for
help to enhance the military's capability, and commented in
a reference to senior terrorist leaders that "we haven't
got the big boys yet and are scared of what happens, how
they react, when we do."


10. (C) Zardari said he was not asking for $100
billion in handouts, but needed funds immediately to build
investor confidence. Many countries of the world are
feeling the effects of the financial crisis, but Pakistan
does not have the capacity to absorb these financial
shocks. "We mean business" and will make reforms, said
Zardari, but the country was coping with the rise in oil
and food prices and needed preferential market access for
its cotton textile imports. He reviewed his idea to
encourage farmers to plant corn that can be converted to
ethanol as a substitute crop for opium. "If the promised
Biden-Lugar assistance had come last week, we would be
okay, but now the world recession has compounded Pakistan's
troubles. We need short-term assistance; we cannot afford
to fail." Zardari then asked Finance Minister Tareen to
brief the group.


11. (C) Tareen noted Pakistan's visible economic decline
and how investor confidence is weakening as foreign
reserves and stock values decrease. He cited a previously
mismanaged economy, the strain of war, lower investor
ratings, and the decline in investor confidence. Tareen
called for the Friends group to establish a menu of issues
from which individual members could choose to offer
assistance, including oil assistance, poverty elimination,
intelligence assistance and social/religious programs. He
promised transparency and documentation, said Pakistan
would not "fritter away" donor assistance and would not shy

ISLAMABAD 00003350 003 OF 004


away from making tough decisions on structural perform.


12. (C) Tareen outlined one specific initiative, which
was later clarified by Zardari for the puzzled Saudi
Ambassador, regarding remittances from Pakistan's overseas
workers. Tareen suggested that foreign countries can
predict rising level of remittances and suggested they
should all be deposited in one central bank account in each
country; that bank could provide an advance to the
Pakistani government, which would pay back the principal
over five years and provide local currency to the families
of the workers at home. This, Tareen declared, was a "risk
free" way to provide $1-2 billion in quick money for the
government. Asseri suggested the matter be discussed
bilaterally.


13. (C) Asseri commented that the solution to Pakistan's
problems must be a "100% home grown" and include a
coordinated, cohesive mosque/media/anti-terrorism approach
to development, law reform, and de-radicalization. He
suggested Zardari should present King Abdullah with a
specific program; Zardari responded that he was ready to
come "tonight" with a wish list. Asseri commented that the
Friends group should not be seen as an economic forum
focused on cash commitments by donor countries.


14. (C) Boucher noted that there were many
bilateral programs possible by different donors and said
the Friends group could ensure that there were no holes in
Pakistan's program goals through a systematic approach to
coordinated donor aid. He suggested a way forward that was
agreed by the group: (1) Pakistan and the UAE would host
the next meeting; (2) Pakistan would provide at that
meeting papers on their efforts in key sectors, e.g.,
counter-extremism, security, economics, which would form
the basis for the meeting's substantive agenda; (3)
Pakistan would circulate a draft paper on the proposed
organization, membership policy and role of the UN as a
secretariat.


15. (C) The Prime Minister made a brief statement
thanking the group, reiterating the gravity of the
situation and identifying law and order and the economy as
Pakistan's biggest inter-related challenges. He expressed
support for the Saudi effort to promote inter-faith
dialogue and excused himself to attend the ongoing special
joint session of parliament on the security situation.
Zardari indicated he wanted to attend the November 12-13
interfaith dialogue session initiated by Saudi Arabia at
the UN and suggested he visit Riyadh before then; Asseri
suggested November 4-5 as a possible date for Zardari's
visit but said the foreign ministries would confirm this.
Zardari agreed.


16. (C) Foreign Secretary Bashir suggested the UAE
meeting be at the ministerial level but that the agenda
could be worked out in Pakistan first at the heads of
mission level. Boucher said the U.S. would support work in
Pakistan first but suggested the UAE mission be at the
officials level since it would be difficult to secure all
ministers at this late date. (Note: After the meeting,
Bashir quietly agreed that Ambassador Boucher
could represent the U.S.) Asseri pushed for a Pakistani team
of experts to "be blunt" and formulate specific proposals for
consideration. Zardari quipped, "we want oil from the oil
countries, money from the rich countries, and diplomacy from
the UK." Bashir suggested including the EU; Zardari
suggested the possibility of adding Korea, Libya and African
countries to the Friends circle. Boucher suggested the core
group plus the UN would be the best place to begin; then,
others could be invited based on their interest in providing
assistance in select areas.


17. (C) Bashir outlined what he described as a platform
for solidarity; he suggested the Friends could provide the
basis for expanding bilateral relations and world community
support but needed to remain flexible. He said Pakistan
would have to examine the UN role carefully because
Pakistan was not a basket case country and should not be

ISLAMABAD 00003350 004 OF 004


considered a failed state like other recipients of UN
Friends' programs. He suggested that we check with the UN
legal department to ensure there would be no objections.
Zardari quickly intervened, saying that Pakistan must
accept reality and that "denial was not an option." He
proposed that Pakistan brief the Friends group on its needs
at the UAE meeting.


18. (U) Assistant Secretary Boucher's office has cleared
this message.



PATTERSON