KAZAKHSTAN: NEW KNB CHAIRMAN VOWS TO FOLLOW THE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 002158

SIPDIS

STATE FOR D, P, SCA/CEN, S/CT, INR, DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/16/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PTER PHUM KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: NEW KNB CHAIRMAN VOWS TO FOLLOW THE
LAW

Classified By: Ambassador Richard E. Hoagland: 1.4 (B),(D)


1. (S) SUMMARY: Newly appointed KNB Chairman Adil
Shayakhmetov told the Ambassador on December 12 that he will
strive to increase U.S.-Kazakhstan counter-terrorism
cooperation, and that the KNB under his chairmanship will
work strictly within the law. When the Ambassador raised
several cases of journalists and human-rights advocate
Yevgeniy Zhovtis, Shayakhmetov did not react negatively, but,
as would be expected, neither did he seem eager to offer
positive solutions. We believe Shayakmetov will report this
meeting to President Nazarbayev. END SUMMARY.


2. (S) On December 7, the Senate of Kazakhstan confirmed
Major General Adil Shayakhmetov as the new chairman of the
Committee for National Security (KNB, ex-KGB),replacing
Amangeldy Shabdarbayev who has been appointed a senior
adviser to President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The actual
transfer of authority took place on December 11, when
Nazarbayev went to KNB headquarters to introduce
Shayakhmetov. As soon as Shayakhmetov was confirmed, as a
matter of course the Ambassador submitted a request to pay a
courtesy call on him. With lightening speed for the
Kazakhstani bureaucracy, the appointment was set for Saturday
morning, December 12. From the moment the Ambassador walked
through the front door of the KNB headquarters, photographers
and a videographer stayed glued to him. The meeting took
place in what appeared to be Shayakmetov's actual office,
with phones ringing non-stop, although they remained
unaswered.

TIME TO EXPAND COUNTER-TERRORISM COOPERATION


3. (S) The Ambassador congratulated Shayakhmetov on his
appointment and officially introduced him to the Mission's
GRPO chief. The Ambassador emphasized that the United States
fully respects Kazakhstan's other important relations (i.e.,
Russia),but believes it is the right time to increase our
bilateral intelligence cooperation, especially as we take on
new responsibilities in Afghanistan. He noted that
Kazakhstan and the United States have had a history of
positive cooperation on counter-terrorism, with real
successes. We would now like to expand our counter-terrorism
cooperation beyond information sharing.

A SUGGESTION


4. (S) The Ambassador then said he would like to offer a
suggestion. In recent months, Kazakhstan's image has
suffered internationally because of the arrests and
convictions of several journalists and the internationally
respected human rights advocate Yevgeniy Zhivtis, cases which
some believe were politically motivated. The Ambassador
emphasized strongly that he does not have the right to
interfere in Kazakhstan's internal affairs but, as a friend
of Kazakhstan, suggested that Shayakmetov consider
recommending to President Nazarbayev a review of these cases,
fully within the limits of Kazakhstani law. The Ambassador
told Shayakhmetov that a positive resolution of these cases
-- perhaps through a Presidential New Year Amnesty -- would
make a strong and positive international impression and would
help undo some of the recent damage, especially at the moment
Kazakhstan assumes the chairmanship of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

A HINT?


5. (S) Dismissing the photographers, Shayakmetov responded
that he was pleased to meet the Ambassador, noting that he
was the first foreign diplomat he was meeting in his new
position. He emphasized that he was fully briefed on "all
cases of the past three years," because he had been Deputy

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Chairman of the KNB. He praised the effective cooperation
between our two special services, and recalled his previous
consultations in the United States on counter-terrorism.
Re-emphasizing that he knows "all the cases of the past three
years," Shayakhmetov again offered appreciation for
U.S.-Kazakhstan cooperation. He said, "As chairman of the
KNB, I will strive to increase that cooperation." (COMMENT:
We suspect that Shayakhmetov's reference, repeated twice, to
"all the cases of the last three years," might have been a
veiled hint about KNB cases that were initiated against U.S.
interests. END COMMENT.)

"THE KNB WILL WORK STRICTLY WITHIN THE LAW"


6. (S) Turning to the journalists and Zhovtis, Shayakhmetov
stated, "They received what the law requires. About Zhovtis,
you must remember that he killed a man." Shayakhmetov then
said, "I have been in many CIS countries, and I understand
how the various systems work. In Kazakhstan, we are working
to develop a real democracy. I understand the importance of
our OSCE chairmanship. Under my chairmanship, the KNB will
work strictly within the law. When I represented the KNB at
the provincial level (in Pavlodar),I learned the importance
of following the letter of the law. Because of your status
as an important and highly experienced diplomat, I look to
you to help improve the cooperation between our two
countries."


7. (S) The Ambassador thanked Shayakhmetov for his emphasis
on rule of law, the foundation of true democracies, and
reiterated that he had brought up difficult cases solely as a
friend of Kazakhstan to emphasize the serious image problem
that has developed for Kazakhstan.

AMBASSADOR'S COMMENT


8. (S) Although I do not want to read too much into this
meeting, it strikes me as somewhat unusual that I was able to
meet Shayakhmetov so quickly after his appointment and that I
was supposedly the first foreign diplomat to do so. This
meeting, in which Shayakhmetov was relatively reserved and
businesslike but not unfriendly, is is stark contrast to my
courtesy call on Shabdarbayev in November 2008, when he
abruptly opened the meeting by asking brusquely if I were
prepared to cooperate operationally to use all possible
special-services means to detain disgraced First Son-in-Law
Rakhat Aliyev in Austria and "render him to Kazakhstan to
face justice." When I firmly declined, Shabdarbayev abruptly
ended the meeting and stalked out after 10 minutes. With
Shayakhmetov, Aliyev was never once mentioned, and the
chairman remained positive and reasonably friendly, even if
relatively formal.


9. (S) COMMENT CONTINUEDD: I raised the cases of
journalists, and especially Zhovtis, because some recent
Web-site analytical postings, which the KNB had certainly
seen, have suggested that Shabdarbayev was removed from the
KNB chairmanship because he had gone too far in pursuing
these and other cases (including against former KazAtomProm
Chairman Mukhtar Dzhakishev),supposedly to please
Nazarbayev. Without pressing too hard, I emphasized the
image issue, suspecting that Shayakhmetov would report the
meeting to President Nazarbayev. If nothing else, the
photographers and the videographer (surely recording every
word) were present when I made this intervention. They left
only when Shayakhmetov dismissed them to begin his reply.


10. (S) COMMENT CONTINUED: I have no special reason to
believe that our U.S. view will prevail on the human-rights
cases, but at least we know that it will now more likely
reach Nazarbayev's ear. This meeting would not have happened
so unusually quickly if there had not been a degree of

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interest at the top in what the United States would say in
the context of the removal of Shabdarbayev from the KNB. END
COMMENT.
HOAGLAND