FINALIZING THE SEISMIC AGREEMENT

UNCLAS STATE 126489 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM PREL TPHY KTBT KSCI KTIA MO SUBJECT: FINALIZING THE SEISMIC AGREEMENT REF: 07 STATE 120858 SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. Department requests Embassy Rabat to urge the Moroccan government to sign the Seismic Agreement (reftel) no later than December 31, 2008. A later signature could result in delays that would jeopardize the project's timely completion. End summary. OBJECTIVES -------------- ¶2. Department instructs Rabat to pursue the following objectives: -- Note that while the GOM has not objected to the draft agreement since it received it in August 2007, it has not signed the agreement. -- Urge the Moroccan government not to tie the government-to-government agreement to negotiations on leasing suitable land, and underscore that the land is a prerequisite to installation, not the signing of the agreement. -- Press the GOM to sign the agreement no later than December 31, 2008, and note signing after that date could add an additional year to the projected installation date. REPORTING DEADLINE -------------- ¶3. Post should report the GOM's response by front channel no later than December 10, 2008. POC for this request is NEA/MAG Morocco desk officer Randall Kaailau. BACKGROUND -------------- ¶4. Since 2004, the Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) has worked with Morocco's Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique et Technique (CNRST) on a project to install seismic detection equipment. The agreed draft text of the government-to-government agreement was sent to Morocco in August 2007. AFTAC cannot purchase the seismic equipment until the agreement is signed, and since the seismic equipment has a 16-18 month lead time for procurement and delivery, the Director of Nuclear Treaty Monitoring would like the GOM to sign the agreement by the end of December ¶2008. If this agreement is not signed this year, the CNRST/AFTAC project is likely to incur increased costs and installation could be delayed from 2010 to 2011. RICE