NOTIFICATION RE AUTHORIZATION TO ENGAGE NRO

UNCLAS PRETORIA 000327 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR PM, AF/S, AF/RSA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TSPA PREL MARR SF SUBJECT: NOTIFICATION RE AUTHORIZATION TO ENGAGE NRO SATELLITE REF: SECSTATE 015164 ¶1. (SBU) DCM provided reftel notification to Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Deputy Director General Abdul Minty by telephone at 21:50 local (14:50 EST) on 14 February. Minty had no substantive reaction, but expressed appreciation for the information and noted he had seen the CNN coverage of the DoD briefing. ¶2. (SBU) DepPolCouns provided similar oral notification to the DFA Operations Center at 22:00 local (15:00 EST). She passed written notification (para 5 of reftel) to DFA Deputy Director: Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Michiel Combrink on 15 February. Combrink expressed interest in receiving more detailed information on expected coordinates for the engagement and for re-entry of resulting debris. He also noted that the timing of the incident was "unfortunate" as "certain other countries" might seek to use it as "cover" their own activities. BOST