CWC: WRAP UP FOR OCTOBER 20-31, 2008

C O N F I D E N T I A L THE HAGUE 000928

SIPDIS

STATE FOR ISN/CB, VCI/CCA, L/NPV, IO/MPR,
SECDEF FOR OSD/GSA/CN,CP>
JOINT STAFF FOR DD PMA-A FOR WTC
COMMERCE FOR BIS (ROBERTS AND DENYER)
NSC FOR FLY
WINPAC FOR WALTER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/04/2018
TAGS: PARM PREL CWC
SUBJECT: CWC: WRAP UP FOR OCTOBER 20-31, 2008

REF: A. THE HAGUE 898

B. THE HAGUE 755

C. THE HAGUE 860

D. BAGHDAD 3428

Classified By: Ambassador Eric M. Javits for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)

This is CWC-54-08

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SUMMARY
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1. (U) Following the busy schedule leading up to and
during the Executive Council's Fifty-fourth Session
(EC-54),life at the OPCW geared down to a slower
pace. In addition to weekly meetings of the Western
European and Others Group (WEOG),only one
consultation -- on Article VII -- was held during the
two weeks following EC-54. WEOG meetings focused on
a review of EC-54 and preparations for the upcoming
Conference of the States Parties (CSP) in early
December.


2. (C) During a meeting with Executive Council (EC)
Chairperson Amb. Tomova, Ambassador Javits discussed
nominating the next Director-General (DG),the
leadership for the upcoming CSP and replacing Iran on
the EC Bureau. Lebanon and Iraq inched closer to
accession, with both now needing only to deposit
their instruments of accession with the UN. And, the
DG made an urgent plea to Amb. Javits for the U.S. to
pay the outstanding balance of its 2008 assessment as
soon as possible.

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WEOG -- EC REVIEW
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3. (SBU) In the regular weekly WEOG meeting on
October 21, the main topic of discussion was the
previous week's EC session. WEOG Coordinator Ruth
Surkau (Germany) noted the Russian blocking of action
on the Portreath facility, the first to reach the ten
year point after conversion, and the ominous new
Iranian proposal for the Article XI workshop. The
French delegate agreed that it will be important to
keep working from the Cuban workshop proposal and not
allow Iran to hijack the workshop. There was
extensive discussion of the isolation of Iran during
the EC, with a caution by the Italian delegate that
the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was still unlikely to
intervene even though many disagree with Iran.


4. (SBU) Delrep raised the question of Iran retaining
its vice chair role in the EC Bureau, although the
procedural rules clearly indicate that a new chair or
vice chair should be elected when an incumbent is
unable to perform his or her duties. Amb. Burkart
(Germany),the WEOG Vice Chair, said he would take
the issue to the Chairperson.


5. (SBU) On the budget, delegates felt that positions
had hardened. Budget facilitator Martin Strub
(Switzerland) stated that he intended to wait before
scheduling a meeting. The number of inspections of
Other Chemical Production Facilities (OCPFs),he
said, is the essential question, and a matter of
principle for India and China. He hoped not to have
to re-open the rest of the budget. The French
delegate noted that the NAM has "pocketed" the 6%
increase in funding for International Cooperation and
Assistance (ICA) and focused the discussion on the
need for WEOG states to compromise on the number of
OCPF inspections; she said the budget is a package
and other pieces could be put into discussion for
compromise. Iran's goals, she admitted, were a
"whole different game." The Netherlands delegate,
last year's budget facilitator, warned against
Qlast year's budget facilitator, warned against
delaying the budget into the CSP, where there are a
whole range of new players and little knowledge of
past negotiations.


6. (SBU) On the question of using the time before the
upcoming CSP, delegates had little to say on Articles
VII, X, XI and Universality. Giuseppe Cornacchia
(Italy),newly appointed facilitator for low
concentrations, stated that the industry cluster
meeting on November 13 would be to get things
started.


7. (U) The Netherlands announced that the seminar on
UNSCR 1540 at the Clingendael Institute planned for
late November would be postponed until early next
year, due to conflicts with other events at the same
time. The Dutch delegate also announced that her
government would be sponsoring hotel rooms for 20
countries (30 delegates),including Somalia, to
attend the CSP. The French delegate announced the EU
day for National Authorities on December 1, with
invitations to go out shortly from the Technical
Secretariat (TS).

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CSP AND DG SEARCH
--------------


8. (C) Ambassador Javits called on EC Chairperson
Amb. Oksana Tomova (Slovakia) on October 27 to
discuss the process for nominating candidates for DG,
the leadership for the upcoming CSP, and replacing
Iran on the EC Bureau. Slovakian delegate Michal
Komada and Delrep sat in. Tomova, as always, was
receptive to suggestions, and noted that she had
already begun consulting Secretary to the Policy-
Making Organs (PMO) Khodakov on the DG selection
history, and had been approached by the French
ambassador about it. Amb. Javits emphasized the
importance of having a transparent process in place
early. Delrep suggested that Tomova could announce
at the CSP that she would begin the process of
opening nominations for DG in early 2009, and could
follow up with a letter to all member states
outlining how nominations could be made.


9. (C) Tomova asked about turning over the process to
the next EC chair, and whether the U.S. had a
candidate for that position. She had heard Mexican
Ambassador Lomonaco is interested. Amb. Javits said
Ambassador Lomonaco would be an excellent choice, but
that there are other qualified GRULAC ambassadors and
that the U.S. does not yet support any particular
candidate. Tomova said she would follow up on the DG
process with Legal Advisor Onate. Komada asked
whether the U.S. would support a regional rotation
for the DG position. Delrep explained the agreement
reached during the Prep Com to alternate candidates
from the developed and developing world, and the
importance of finding qualified individuals without
limiting the search to one region or unduly
politicizing it.


10. (C) On the questions of the Iranian Vice Chair,
Amb. Javits and Delrep cited the rules of procedure
that indicate both that the Bureau leadership should
be "Representatives" and that new chairs should be
elected if/when they can no longer perform their
duties. Iranian Ambassador Ziaran's departure, with
reportedly only a Charg to come, goes against both
those rules. Tomova said that Amb. Burkhart had
already approached her on this on behalf of the WEOG.
Delrep noted one politically complicating factor --
QDelrep noted one politically complicating factor --
that early action in the Asian Group on the vice
chair question might jeopardize other candidates for
the CSP chair (which is also Asia this year). Amb.
Javits recommended that Tomova seek legal advice from
the TS on how to proceed and leave action pending
until after the CSP to request that the Asian Group
elect a new vice chair.


11. (C) (Del note: At a dinner later in the week,
Tomova informed Amb. Javits that she had spoken to
the Iranian delegate about the irregularity of their
delegation's taking the Bureau vice chairmanship
after the departure of their Ambassador. She warned
him that they could not continue to violate the rules
and that a new vice chair would need to be elected.)


12. (C) For the CSP, Tomova thought the Indian
Ambassador is still in the running for the chair.
Amb. Javits explained that he had talked to the
Indian Ambassador and discussed the principled U.S.
objection to a possessor state being in such a
leadership position. Komada asked if that would hold
for the DG as well; Amb. Javits said it would. He
and Tomova agreed to stay in touch on all of these
moving candidacies.


13. (C) After this meeting with Tomova, the new
Korean Ambassador, Young-won Kim, made a courtesy
call on Amb. Javits. Amb. Javits noted that now that
Korea is no longer a possessor state, the Ambassador
could become a candidate for EC or CSP leadership.
Kim seemed pleased but noted that the Japanese
Ambassador might be interested in the CSP chair and
that he himself was not yet accredited to OPCW. Amb.
Javits later phoned the Japanese Ambassador, who told
him that the new Malaysian Ambassador is coordinating
the election for the Asian group.


14. (C) In a conversation later in the week with the
Japanese delegate, Delrep learned that, while the
Japanese Ambassador is interested in taking the CSP
chair, he did not want to put himself forward. The
delegation worked with and through the Malaysian
delegation to assess indirectly whether there was any
opposition to the Japanese Ambassador. On October
31, the Japanese delegate told Delrep that the
Malaysian Ambassador had nominated the Japanese
Ambassador for the CSP Chair and Pakistan had
circulated the notice to all of the Asian Group; no
other candidates were identified on the notification.
The Group will meet on the nomination, but no date
has yet been set.

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WEOG -- CANDIDATES
--------------


15. (U) The October 28 meeting of WEOG discussed
preparations and appointments for the upcoming CSP,
current consultations and the appointment of
facilitators, and several issues under Any Other
Business.


16. (SBU) Although confirmation will be required,
there seemed to be no opposition to continuing the
tradition of electing the U.S. and the currently
serving WEOG coordinator (Germany) as WEOG Vice
Chairs for the CSP. Portugal and Finland expressed
interest in the Credentials Committee, and will
discuss which of the two will chair the committee.
On the Confidentiality Commission, the German and
Norwegian members are each willing to serve a third
term, and Italy may replace its current member; U.S.
Del nominated U.S. expert Susan Richey to take the
fourth WEOG spot on the Commission.


17. (SBU) On upcoming consultations, WEOG Coordinator
Surkau reported her understanding that Article VII
facilitator Said Moussi (Algeria) was working on a
"draft" but not yet certain whether this would take
the form of report language or a decision. Moussi
Qthe form of report language or a decision. Moussi
had indicated to Surkau that Iran opposes a decision,
and the Indian position is not clear. France and
Germany expressed support for a decision to keep the
issue at the forefront, with a possible focus on
further assistance to States Parties. The UK noted
that it would be preferable tactically for the GRULAC
and African Group to push for a decision.


18. (U) On Article XI, it seems the NAM is having
difficulty finding a replacement for current
facilitator Li Hong of China; the Polish delegation
has been approached, but there was agreement that a
NAM facilitator would be preferable. Poland could,
however, be a good choice to facilitate Article X
when current facilitator Victor Smirnovsky (Russia)
leaves. Surkau added that Smirnovsky does not intend
to hold additional consultations between now and the
CSP. Several delegations cautioned against
committing to an Article XI Workshop before being
confident that it would not be used as a venue to
criticize the Australia Group.


19. (U) Surkau noted that the TS hopes to distribute
its paper on Sampling and Analysis by next week to
allow some time for consideration before the November
13-14 industry consultations. Giuseppe Cornacchia
(Italy),newly appointed facilitator for low
concentrations, reported that he is still soliciting
feedback from other delegations as to the direction
his consultations might take.


20. (U) Under Any Other Business, Amb. Javits
explained his concern that the OPCW was hampered in
effective recruiting by its retirement age. In light
of tenure and the difficulty of attracting qualified
mid-career candidates, he suggested the DG might
consider raising the age from 62 to 65. Germany
expressed doubt that an entry-level inspector
position would be attractive to a senior member of
industry, but acknowledged this step could be
helpful. Surkau suggested that the U.S. circulate a
paper explaining its proposal, and that WEOG
delegations could consider this matter further early
next year.


21. (U) Delrep also reported to WEOG colleagues that
Iraq was one step closer to accession, having
published the CWC law in its national gazette.
France gave a brief update on the upcoming EU-
sponsored extra day of the National Authorities
annual meeting, and expressed hope that non-European
companies and industry associations would also
participate. Germany noted that EC Chairperson
Tomova was seeking advice from the Legal Advisor
Onate and PMO Secretary Khodakov on the issue of
possibly replacing Iran as an EC Vice Chair; the
Netherlands delegate added that a new Iranian Charge
d'Affairs has arrived.

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ARTICLE VII
--------------


22. (U) On October 27, Delreps met informally with
Article VII facilitator Said Moussi (Algeria) at his
request. Moussi told Delreps that he planned to hold
a consultation on October 30 and would seek more
input from delegations on what type of recommendation
to present to the upcoming CSP, as he had done during
the previous two consultations (refs B and C). He
also shared a draft decision that he had prepared in
collaboration with the TS, and he said that he would
circulate the draft after the October 30
consultation. Moussi advised that he had been
speaking bilaterally to a number of delegations and
reported that many are in favor of pursuing a
decision at the CSP; he specifically mentioned
Qdecision at the CSP; he specifically mentioned
African delegations, Brazil and Mexico.


23. (U) During the October 30 consultations, Moussi
presented his thoughts on how to proceed with
recommendations for the CSP. While he noted his
preference for a decision (as in past years),he
stressed that the substance of any proposal should
take precedence over its format. Notably, Pakistan
said that it could support a decision that notes the
progress achieved in Article VII implementation,
encourages the TS to continue its work and does not
set new parameters or punitive measures. Pakistan's
comments set the tone for most of the other
interventions, and there was general consensus among
delegations present that the content of any decision
or report language should be positive in tone,
underlining progress in Article VII implementation
while encouraging further work. As in the previous
consultation (ref C),Iran remained the lone voice
against doing anything more on Article VII.


24. (U) At the end of the consultation, when asked by
Cuba how he plans to proceed, Moussi announced that
he will circulate a draft paper incorporating the
elements raised during the consultation.

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ACCESSION -- LEBANON AND IRAQ
--------------


25. (SBU) Lebanese Ambassador Al-Saghir informed Amb.
Javits that the Lebanese President recently signed
the law allowing Lebanon to accede to the Convention
and that Lebanon soon will deposit its instrument of
accession with the UN.


26. (SBU) At a dinner on October 28, Iraqi Ambassador
Banaa advised Amb. Javits that Iraq's instrument of
accession would be deposited with the UN on October

29. Del shared this information with the DG and UK
colleagues, all of whom have had past experience with
Amb. Banaa's rather optimistic predictions. Delrep
also followed up on additional declaration-related
documents reported to have been forwarded to The
Hague sometime around July 2008 (ref D). Despite
initial indications from Amb. Banaa and his staff
that no such documents had been received, the Iraqi
Embassy provided Del with a CD with a number of
documents (all in Arabic) on October 31. It is
unclear whether this is anything more than simply an
update based on the U.S./UK/TS recommendations from
March 2008, but Del forwarded the CD to Washington
and encouraged the Iraqi Embassy to provide the TS
with a copy.

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PAYMENT OF 2008 ASSESSMENT
--------------


27. (SBU) During a meeting on October 28, the DG
informed Amb. Javits that the OPCW was running out of
operating funds and requested that the U.S. pay the
outstanding balance (roughly EUR 10.5 million) of its
2008 assessment as soon as possible.


28. (SBU) DEL COMMENT: While the OPCW's Working
Capital Fund has a balance of over EUR 10.1 million
(as of August 31),the DG refuses to draw on it as a
matter of principle. Japan -- the second largest
contributor to the OPCW -- paid its outstanding
balance (roughly EUR 6 million) on October 20,
bringing the current outstanding balance for all 2008
assessments down to roughly EUR 11.9 million. After
the U.S., the countries with the largest outstanding
balances for their 2008 assessments are: Brazil (EUR
603,436),Argentina (EUR 223,878),Venezuela (EUR
123,369) and Iran (EUR 110,101). END COMMENT.


29. (U) Javits sends.
CULBERTSON