CHARGE REVIEWS MULTILATERAL PRIORITIES WITH MFA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUALA LUMPUR 000484 SIPDIS FOR IO-RHS, DRL-MLGA, AND EAP/MTS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/16/2019 TAGS: PREL ENRG MARR KNNP IAEA ASEAN IR MY SUBJECT: CHARGE REVIEWS MULTILATERAL PRIORITIES WITH MFA ACTING SECRETARY GENERAL REF: A. KL 434 - MEETING WITH DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER ¶B. STATE 46302 - IAEA DG ELECTION ¶C. STATE 57598 - INT'L NUCLEAR FUEL BANK ¶D. STATE 58579 - INT'L PIRACY COURT ¶E. STATE 60334 - IAEA REPORT ON IRAN AND SYRIA Classified By: CDA Robert Rapson, reason 1.4 (b and d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Foreign Ministry Acting Secretary General Zainol Abidin and the Charge held a broad-ranging discussion of multilateral political and security issues on June 9. Zainol noted Prime Minister Najib's directive to build stronger, more substantive ties with Washington. The Charge pressed Zainol on the issue of Malaysia's drafting of an export control law and offers of U.S. assistance, but Zainol declined to mention a time frame for completing the bill, citing other GOM priorities. Regarding the IAEA, Charge presented G-8 points seeking Malaysian ratification of the IAEA Additional Protocol, urged Malaysia to back Japan's candidate in the Director General race, and presented the U.S. white paper supportive of an international nuclear fuel bank. Zainol clarified that Malaysia had yet to make a policy decision to build a nuclear power plant, despite recent comments from PM Najib suggesting otherwise. Charge raised the latest IAEA report on Iran's lack of cooperation; urged Malaysia to push for Iran's compliance with its international obligations; and noted Malaysia's hosting in late June of a nuclear power conference involving Iranian participants. Zainol reiterated Malaysia's positions supportive of total nuclear disarmament and of countries' right to peaceful uses of nuclear technology. Charged commended PM Najib for his strong statement on North Korea's nuclear test. He urged ASEAN to step up pressure on Burma related to the situation of Aung San Suu Kyi. Charge presented U.S. demarche opposing an international piracy court and discussed options for Malaysia's capacity-building training for Afghanistan, which Zainol suggested would be limited absent third-country funding. Charge urged the GOM full investigation of allegations of Malaysian officials' complicity in the trafficking of Burmese refugees; Zainol assured us these were receiving serious attention. End Summary. Moving the Relationship "Up a Notch" -------------- ¶2. (C) Charge and Polcouns on June 9 called on Ambassador Zainol Abidin Omar, the Foreign Ministry's Acting Secretary General (in the absence of SecGen Rastam) and Deputy Secretary General II responsible for multilateral affairs, and conducted a broad-ranging 75-minute discussion of multilateral political and security priorities. Zainol began the meeting by noting satisfaction with recent developments in bilateral relations, moves that reflected the "seriousness of Prime Minister Najib to move relations up a notch." Malaysia was looking for ways to make the relationship "more substantive," building on good trade/investment ties and defense cooperation. Charge noted that MFA Secretary General Rastam's visit to Washington for the ASEAN dialogue and planned meeting in the Department June 10 presented a good opportunity to further discuss issues raised in the May 14 meeting between Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Anifah, including resumption of a bilateral senior officials dialogue. Export Controls -------------- ¶3. (C) Charge recalled that the Ambassador had met Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin on June 1, asked about the status of Malaysia's export control bill, and urged finalization of the bill as a high priority (ref A). Charge reiterated U.S. willingness and ability to provide technical assistance, including through our in-country export control advisor, and asked for the MFA's cooperation in responding promptly to specific U.S. offers of training (an area of difficulty over the past two years). Zainol offered that the export control bill was still in a "drafting stage" with the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and would be ready "in due course," KUALA LUMP 00000484 002 OF 003 but not in time for the next Parliament session beginning June 15. He explained that the AGO currently had higher priorities set by PM Najib, including a review of Malaysia's preventative detention laws. He expressed appreciation for U.S. technical assistance and confirmed the MFA would send someone to a U.S.-sponsored export control conference in Turkey, June 25-27. IAEA, Nuclear Power -------------- ¶4. (C) Charge, drawing on G-8 talking points presented to the MFA on June 4 by the Italian ambassador, urged Malaysia to complete steps to ratify the IAEA Additional Protocol, which Malaysia signed in 2005, and bring the Protocol and its strengthened safeguard systems into full force in Malaysia. Charge reiterated our previous encouragement for Malaysia to vote for the Japanese candidate Amano as the next IAEA Director General (ref B). Polcouns conveyed U.S. points on the international nuclear fuel bank, noting support for the concept from the current IAEA Director General and its intention to increase access to peaceful nuclear energy (ref C). Zainol explained that Malaysia is working on ratification of the Additional Protocol, but needed to ensure that the government can undertake all of its commitments first, which required additional legislation (NFI) to be in place. The Deputy Secretary General stated that Malaysia thought "similarly" to the U.S. on the IAEA election and "we have made our commitment," but he did not mention Amano's name. Zainol pledged that the Ministry would study the details of the international fuel bank concept. Zainol clarified that a recent statement by PM Najib on a future nuclear energy program in Malaysia represented a GOM commitment to study nuclear power generation alongside other options, not a commitment to build a nuclear power station. Iran -------------- ¶5. (C) Charge raised the latest IAEA report on Iran's lack of cooperation on its nuclear program in defiance of the international community; urged Malaysia to push for Iran's compliance with its international obligations (ref E); and recalled President Obama's statements that peaceful uses of nuclear technology entail responsibilities as well. The U.S. and the international community had no confidence in Iran's actions at this juncture. Charge noted that Malaysia would host an International Nuclear Conference (INC09) in late June, and that there appeared to be significant Iranian participation at the event, according to publicly available information (septel). Zainol said there should not be limits on a country's peaceful use of nuclear technology as long as it abides by international rules, and emphasized Malaysia's "straightforward" support of total nuclear disarmament. Zainol said he was aware of Iranian participation in INC09, which Malaysia viewed as a useful forum to exchange information on peaceful uses of nuclear technology. North Korea; Burma -------------- ¶6. (C) Charge expressed U.S. appreciation for PM Najib's condemnation of North Korea's latest nuclear test, along with ASEAN's strong statement. Zainol replied that Malaysia held a "straightforward" view in favor of total nuclear disarmament. On Burma, Charge noted that U.S. options for engaging Burma could be affected if the regime sentences Aung San Suu Kyi to prison, and he urged stepped up pressure from Malaysia and ASEAN on Burma. Zainol held that Burma should establish confidence in the international community and among its own people, and stop damaging ASEAN's credibility. Burma's generals, however, were constrained by fears over their future. Piracy, Peacekeeping, Afghanistan -------------- ¶7. (C) Charge touched on Malaysia's role in combating piracy; the GOM's recent international piracy conference, which attracted U.S. presenters; and U.S. support for Malaysia joining the Somalia Contact Group. Charge commended Malaysia for past naval deployments in the Gulf of Aden. KUALA LUMP 00000484 003 OF 003 Charge presented the U.S. white paper with arguments against establishment of an international piracy court (ref D),which Zainol said the Ministry would need to study. Zainol said the naval deployments to the Gulf of Aden were extremely expensive, but Malaysian shipping in the area also was very important to the country. Zainol offered that UN peacekeeping operations represented an important international commitment for Malaysia, which should continue. In response to the Charge's question on support for Afghanistan, Zainol said Malaysia might be able to provide some limited capacity-building training to small numbers of Afghan officials, perhaps in the areas of civil administration and trade promotion. Malaysia, however, had very limited funding available and would look for other countries to help defray costs of more significant training programs, noting an Australian funded project to expose Afghan teachers to Malaysia' education system. Trafficking in Persons -------------- ¶8. (C) On trafficking in persons, Charge expressed appreciation for the Prime Minister's public commitment to pursue an investigation into allegations of Malaysian officials' complicity in trafficking of Burmese refugees to the Thai border. In contrast, however, a senior Malaysian official's statement that the allegations were baseless sent a discouraging signal. Charge urged GOM follow-through with a serious law enforcement investigation. Zainol assured Charge that GOM agencies were taking a "very serious look" at this issue. RAPSON