KAZAKHSTAN: SAUDABAYEV ON NUCLEAR SECURITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 001444 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/CE, ISN, DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/28/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PHUM KNNP KDEM OSCE AU KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: SAUDABAYEV ON NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT, RAKHAT ALIYEV, OSCE REF: A. ASTANA 1328 ¶B. ASTANA 1439 Classified By: Ambassador Richard E. Hoagland: 1.4 (B),(D) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: During an August 27 meeting, State Secretary Kanat Saudabayev told the Ambassador: -- President Nazarbayev still wants an Oval Office meeting when he travels to Washington next spring for the Nuclear Security Summit and is willing to be flexible about the timing; -- Kazakhstan remains suspicious that the United States has contact with Nazarbayev's exiled ex-son-in-law, Rakhat Aliyev, and fears we might offer him asylum; and -- The Presidency is irked with the OSCE Head of Mission in Astana who said in a recent local press interview that there's still a one-percent chance Kazakhstan might be denied the 2010 OSCE Chairmanship because of democracy and human rights issues. END SUMMARY. NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT ¶2. (C) The Ambassador met with State Secretary Kanat Saudabayev on August 27 to give him an interim response to the request he had made on August 3 that President Nursultan Nazarbayev combine his participation in the Spring 2010 Nuclear Security Summit in the United States with a bilateral visit that would include an Oval Office meeting (ref A). The Ambassador told Saudabayev that planning for the Nuclear Security Summit is under way and that details should be forthcoming. He advised Saudabayev that deliverables for the summit will be discussed with participants in advance, and noted that about 30 heads of state will be jostling for White House attention; however, the Administration has not ruled out an Obama-Nazarbayev meeting "sometime in the spring." The Ambassador hastened to add that this preliminary information does not/not constitute an "official invitation," and that he was providing it simply to be responsive to Saudabayev's August 3 request. Saudabayev said he thoroughly understood. He suggested that an optimal scenario, should a bilateral visit be confirmed, would be for Nazarbayev to arrive in Washington three or four days before the summit or stay in the United States after it for three or four days. Nazarbayev would use the extra time to visit New York and possibly the headquarters of international oil companies that are heavily invested in Caspian Sea projects. 
RAKHAT ALIYEV REDUX ¶3. (C) When the brief, business-like meeting seemed to be over, Saudabayev paused and then said, "I need you to look me in the eye and tell me once again that your government has no official contact of any kind with Rakhat Aliyev," Nazarbayev's estranged ex-son-in-law currently exiled in Europe, "and that you will not allow him into the United States. We know that he has 'offered himself' to you." The Ambassador responded, "I can confirm to you that we do not have any kind of contact whatsoever with Aliyev, we do not want any contact with him, and we would not want to see him in the United States because we understand clearly that would be a disaster for the bilateral relationship." The Ambassador cautioned that it is possible Aliyev might have some contact with U.S. journalists, lawyers, or public relations people, but repeated the U.S. government does not have and does not want any sort of contact with Aliyev. He added that if Kazakhstan has listed Aliyev with Interpol, that would help prevent him from inadvertently being issued a visa and slipping into the United States. Saudabayev ASTANA 00001444 002 OF 002 confirmed Kazakhstan has indeed listed Aliyev with Interpol and with "every other agency possible." ¶4. (C) The Ambassador asked why this Aliyev issue has come up again. Saudabayev responded, "His 'criminal partner' (former KNB Chairman Alnur) Musayev has just turned against him, he will have mounting problems in Austria, we know he is not welcome in London," then he paused and added, "and we continue to have indications 'your people' might want to give him asylum in the United States. That would be a catastrophe." The Ambassador repeated his "do not have contact, do not want contact" mantra. Saudabayev seemed reassured and said, "All right. We trust you. The President believes you personally are seriously trying to build the relationship he wants with the United States. We are pleased that our bilateral relationship has become stable, predictable, positive, and is growing step by step. But it takes two to tango. We are reciprocating President Obama's positive impulses. It appears both sides are trying to be 'understanding realists.'" DISPLEASURE WITH OSCE AMBASSADOR'S PRESS INTERVIEW ¶5. (C) Saudabayev said that his government was "perplexed" by OSCE Head of Mission in Kazakhstan, Ambassador Aleksandre Keltchewsky's "intemperate" comments in his two-part interview recently published in the widely read newspaper, "Liter," in which he raised the "one-percent" possibility that Kazakhstan might still be denied the 2010 OSCE Chairmanship because of democracy and human-rights issues. Clearly irritated, Saudabayev said, "I think he needs a dose of 'realistic understanding.' He needs to understand that those who once stood at the barricades now sit at the same table (at the OSCE). The name of that organization includes the word, 'security,' and more attention should be paid to that aspect. Four of the world's nuclear powers are OSCE members, but what has OSCE ever done for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation? Not very much!" (NOTE: Non-proliferation has become one of Saudabayev's signature issues. In fact, on the day of this meeting, he had just returned at 4:00 am from a meeting on nuclear issues in Nagasaki, Japan, where, he said, he had been most impressed by the U.S. head of delegation, Susan Burk. END NOTE.) Saudabayev concluded, "We fully understand and respect that the OSCE has three dimensions. We would hope that others understand that, too." "HE'S A CLEVER GUY" ¶6. (C) At the end of the meeting, The Ambassador commented that he had read Presidential Policy Adviser Yermukhamet Yetysbayev's recent "Liter" interview (ref B) very closely and had found it most interesting. Saudabayev smiled enigmatically and said only, "He's a clever guy." HOAGLAND