MANAS UPDATE: PRESS AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES

S E C R E T BISHKEK 000657 DEPT FOR SCA - PDAS MOON AND DAS KROL E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR MOPS KG SUBJECT: MANAS UPDATE: PRESS AND IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES REF: A. BISHKEK 650 ¶B. BISHKEK 599 ¶C. BISHKEK 596 ¶D. STATE 7736 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Lee Litzenberger, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) This cable contains an action request at paragraph 8. Meeting with "Delegation" -------------- ¶2. (S) Charge, Manas Commander Col. Holt, and a "delegation" of officers from the Embassy and Base met with Foreign Minister Sarbayev and Defense Minister Kalyev June 18 at the Ala Archa Presidential Compound in Bishkek. Sarbayev indicated that he did not intend to release the texts of the agreements until after Parliament passes a law to ratify the agreements. (Note: According to Sarbayev's schedule, Parliament's vote should take place on June 25. End Note.) Sarbayev expected President Bakiyev to sign the law quickly after Parliament acts. Proposed Press Guidance -------------- ¶3. (S) Charge offered draft language for responding to press inquiries about the new agreements. The Kyrgyz side generally accepted the draft points, but Kalyev suggested additional language that would describe the U.S. military personnel serving at the Transit Center as "technical and support" personnel rather than "military" personnel and explain their functions at the Transit Center. (Embassy will email revised press language to SCA/CEN and SCA/PPD.) Ivanov Shooting Questions -------------- ¶4. (S) Sarbayev raised the December 2006 Ivanov shooting case. He said he had received letters from Ivanov's widow, as well as from groups opposed to the presence of the Base, asking about the status of the investigation. Sarbayev said that he needed to respond to the letters -- and to the public -- with answers about the status of the case. Sarbayev was certain that the issue would be raised both in Parliament and in the press next week. He asked Charge for language he could use to respond to inquiries about the case. Perimeter Security -------------- ¶5. (S) Kalyev then raised the issue of security for the transit facility. He floated the idea of a separate outer ring of Kyrgyz security, but Charge pointed out that the new Transit Center agreement provides for "joint manning of entry control points." Kalyev stressed putting a "Kyrgyz face" on perimeter security, and he also questioned whether U.S. security personnel would still need to patrol the flight line. The U.S. side said that joint U.S.-Kyrgyz teams could conduct the mobile patrols, but our main task was to operationalize the concept of joint security, while maintaining necessary force protection. Kalyev suggested that a technical working group of U.S. and Kyrgyz military officers could work out a solution to security questions. ¶6. (S) At the conclusion of the meeting, Sarbayev told Charge that he thought that any questions about joint security could be resolved at the working level, and Kalyev also said he hoped that we would find "common ground" on perimeter security. Comment -------------- ¶7. (S) Comment: We do not view today's discussion as an attempt by the Kyrgyz to modify the agreements; rather, the discussion reflects the Kyrgyz wish to reduce the visibility of armed U.S. forces and put a "Kyrgyz face" on security, now that we are close to implementing the new arrangement. Sarbayev asked Charge to meet again tomorrow, June 19. Action Request -------------- ¶8. (S) Recognizing the Privacy Act restrictions and current posture of the case, Post requests cleared language to respond to any press inquiries regarding the status of the Ivanov case. Further, it would be helpful to have approved language, beyond the points provided in Ref D (which was sent prior to the Article 32 hearing),that we could share with Sarbayev and Kalyev on a confidential basis showing that the U.S. is working toward an appropriate disposition of the matter. LITZENBERGER