SANCTIONS NOTIFICATION AGAINST AQ KHAN DELIVERED

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISLAMABAD 000077 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2019 TAGS: ETTC EFIN KNNP MNUC PARM PINS PREL PK SUBJECT: SANCTIONS NOTIFICATION AGAINST AQ KHAN DELIVERED REF: SECSTATE 2522 Classified By: Anne W. Patterson for reasons 1.4 (b),(d). ¶1. (C) Summary: On January 12, the Ambassador met with Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir to deliver reftel demarche about the imposition of sanctions on Abdul Qadeer Khan, Muhammad Farooq, and Muhammad Nasim ud Din under the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act (NPPA),the Export Import Act (EXIM),and Executive Orders (E.O.) 12938. The DCM delivered the same non-paper to Strategic Plans Division (SPD) Director Khalid Kidwai and Director Security SPD Ahmed Bilal. End summary. ¶2. (C) The Ambassador described the specific sanctions against Abdul Qadeer Khan, Muhammad Farooq, and Muhammad Nasim ud Din under the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act (NPPA),the Export Import Act (EXIM),and Executive Orders (E.O.) 12938 to Foreign Secretary Bashir and passed along the related non-paper. She informed Bashir that the decision would be made publicly available on January 12. The Ambassdor stressed the fact that the decision was not directed at any country and highlighted the GOP's significant contributions in investigating and shutting down the network. In response, Bashir asked that in any press reactions the U.S. stress Pakistan's cooperation with the IAEA and the GOP's efforts to promote international nonproliferation. When asked about the timing of the sanctions, the Ambassador explained that this was a complex case and the sanctions resulted from a multi-year investigation of the A.Q. Khan proliferation network. ¶3. (C) The DCM presented the non-paper to SPD Director Kidwai and Directory Security SPD Bilal. Kidwai queried as to the scope of the sanctions and their impact on the three named individuals. Kidwai also wished to know if the government of Pakistan was expected to implement the sanctions against Khan and the others in some way. The DCM explained that the sanctions in essence prohibit commercial interactions with US companies and froze US-based assets, and he assured Kidwai that the GOP was not expected to bear any burden in the enforcement. Kidwai was particularly concerned that publicly it would be emphasized that the GOP was not being sanctioned. ¶4. (C) Comment: The real fear both at the MFA and SPD was the adverse public reaction to the sanctions. Both GOP officials stressed that Pakistan's committment to non-proliferation and their cooperation with the U.S. should be highlighted when discussing the sanctions. Pakistani media reporting on January 13 was largely factual. End Comment. End comment. PATTERSON