CWC: WRAP-UP FOR APRIL 6-17, 2009

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000253 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR ISN/CB, VCI/CCA, L/NPV, IO/MPR SECDEF FOR OSD/GSA/CN,CP> JOINT STAFF FOR DD PMA-A FOR WTC COMMERCE FOR BIS (BROWN AND DENYER) NSC FOR LUTES WINPAC FOR WALTER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM PREL CWC SUBJECT: CWC: WRAP-UP FOR APRIL 6-17, 2009 REF: A. THE HAGUE 244 ¶B. THE HAGUE 236 This is CWC-22-09. -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Following the industry cluster consultations (Ref A),the Chairperson of the Executive Council (EC) held informal consultations on the status of preparations for EC-56 (reported in ref B). Informal consultations were also held on Article X Assistance and Protection on April 7, and on reports from the Office of Internal Oversight and the External Auditor on April 8 and ¶15. The Western European and Others Group (WEOG) held its regular weekly meeting on April 7. Ambassador Alpar of Turkey called on U.S. Delreps on April 9 to lobby for the Turkish candidate for Director-General (DG). The week of April 13 was particularly quiet as many delegates and senior Technical Secretariat (TS) staff decamped to Istanbul for the Workshop on Universality. -------------- WEOG -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The April 7 WEOG meeting focused on Iraq's recent declaration and feedback from the previous week's industry cluster meetings. The U.S. and UK informed the group that both would be providing information on recovered munitions in Iraq following Iraq's presentation at the destruction informals (April 20). WEOG coordinator Ruth Surkau (Germany) thought that difficult debate could be expected on establishing a destruction deadline for Iraq, if not at this upcoming EC meeting then likely at the Conference of the States Parties (CSP-14) in December. She also noted the DG's previous statement that OPCW inspectors would be asked to conduct inspections inside Iraq on a voluntary basis due to the precarious security situation on the ground. ¶3. (SBU) Italian delegate Cornacchia asserted that WEOG delegations should take a pro-active role on Iraq's accession to the OPCW and not leave Iraq alone to sort out the complexities of its declaration. German Ambassador Burkart highlighted the section in the Iraqi declaration documenting in vague terms the stockpiling of CW in certain bunkers, suggesting that the Iraqis themselves are not certain of their declarable amounts. He then warned about the thorny questions to follow, most likely from Iran, on the list of supplier countries in the Iraqi declaration, and proposed that WEOG develop a strategy to deal with this issue. Dutch Ambassador de Savornin Lohman noted that how WEOG and the OPCW in general deal with Iraq will be viewed by those still outside the CWC, particularly those that may possess CW. ¶4. (SBU) Regarding the Industry Cluster meetings, Surkau shared that China plans to push for report language at EC-56 on site selection methodology for Other Chemical Production Facilities (OCPFs) as they had done during EC-55. Cornacchia supported the Chinese proposal in the hope that it might attract a facilitator for consultations on the issue. No WEOG delegations indicated their willingness to offer a facilitator. ¶5. (SBU) On 2A/2A* low consultations, Cornacchia (facilitator for the issue) noted that, following the Industry Cluster, he spoke with delegations about the proposal to circulate a questionnaire on the anticipated impact of various thresholds (ref A). Despite having raised opposition during the consultation, Japan seemed far more flexible in private; Cornacchia said he hopes to circulate a draft questionnaire, along with revised report language on a draft decision. ¶6. (SBU) Any Other Business: In response to a question about the upcoming Universality Conference in Istanbul, the Turkish delegate stated that Ankara still had not received any response from Cairo or Damascus to invitations to attend. Israel would be sending its DCM from its Embassy in Ankara, and Burma planned on sending an official from Rangoon. -------------- TURKISH CANDIDATE FOR DG -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Turkish Ambassador Selahattin Alpar called on Delreps April 9 to present the nomination for Turkish candidate for Director-General, Ahmet Uzumcu, and solicit U.S. support for his candidacy. He provided a diplomatic note and resume for Uzumcu, currently Turkey's Permanent Delegate to the United Nations in Geneva and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament (documents scanned and sent to ISN/CB). ¶8. (SBU) Alpar emphasized Uzumcu's experience in diplomacy, disarmament and management, and noted that he may bridge support from different regional groups. He said he had called on the German and Algerian ambassadors to wish them well in a "friendly competition." Delrep thanked Alpar for the information, noted that the U.S. has not yet made any decisions on candidates, and said that we expected to work with WEOG on strategy once the field of candidates is complete in July so that the large number of western candidates will not be splitting support. Alpar said that Uzumcu will be in The Hague for a couple of days during EC-56; he and Delrep set a tentative time for U.S. EC Representative Mikulak to meet with Uzumcu during his visit. Alpar said Uzumcu also plans to travel to Washington later this spring, but the dates are not yet set. -------------- ARTICLE X -------------- ¶9. (U) Informal consultations on April 8 led by new facilitator Maciek Karasinski (Poland) began with a short presentation by the TS on the Databank on Assistance and Protection. The TS admitted to gaps in the database due to limitations on time and personnel. The presentation produced little comment. The TS made a request that States Parties provide updated information for the list of experts. ¶10. (U) Following a review of the report (EC- 55/DG.5) regarding information provided on National Protective Programs, some questions were raised as to how best to encourage member states to send in information each year in April. The TS responded defensively, noting that reminders are sent out to every member state each year before the April due date. ¶11. (U) Evaluation of Effectiveness - Note by the TS EC-55/S/2. Delegates were generally pleased that the TS had produced this document; however, many delegates found the language too general. The Czech delegate made a request for a more in-depth analysis based on stated objectives that could be produced on a regular basis. ¶12. (U) For EC-56, Karasinski stated his intention to note the two documents above along with a request that an evaluation paper be produced on a regular basis and that it include recommendations for future work. -------------- OFFICE OF INTERNAL OVERSIGHT -------------- ¶13. (U) At an informal consultation held on April 8, facilitator Takayuki Kitagawa (Japan) handed out an informal paper summarizing the status of recommendations of the Office of Internal Oversight (OIO). Questions from delegates regarding the travel management system, records management and the rate at which education certificates have been translated were answered without producing any controversy. EC-55/S/6 and EC-56/DG.5 were reviewed and will be sent to EC-56 for noting by the Council. Delegates seemed willing to wait for the following week's meeting on the annual report of the OIO to get more information. ¶14. (SBU) During the follow-on consultation on April 15, OIO Director Mohamed Louati presented the OIO annual report for 2008 (EC-56/DG.6). Louati noted OIO's increased workload in 2008 due to a rise in requests for advice from the TS Front Office. (Del Note: Del has been hearing informally that the Front Office insists on sending all decisions, no matter how minor or routine, to the Legal Advisor and OIO for opinions before acting on them. End Note.) Louati announced that in early April the OPCW Lab received an extension of its ISO accreditation by the Netherlands Accreditation Council to 2013. ¶15. (U) Kitagawa then went through the report section-by-section allowing delegations to raise questions and seek clarification from Louati, David O'Regan (Internal Auditor) and Administration Director Ron Nelson. Responding to a question from the Dutch delegate, Louati said that the first-ever external review of OIO -- requested by the Netherlands and other delegations during the 2009 budget consultations -- is planned for October. U.S. Delrep asked about plans to regularize positions in the TS as recommended by OIO for a number of offices; Nelson responded that the DG was firm on maintaining the number of fixed-term staff at its present number (523). Nelson also noted that there are not any unfilled fixed-term positions that could be converted, so the TS plans to continue relying on short-term contracts to fill staffing needs. ¶16. (U) Before ending the meeting, Kitagawa announced his intention to brief the Council on the outcome of both rounds of consultations and recommend that all three reports under consideration be noted. No delegations voiced any opposition. However, Kitagawa later told Delrep that South African delegate van Schalkwyk, who was absent from consultations, said he would ask for deferral of the OIO annual report during EC-56 in order to have more time to study it. ¶17. (U) BEIK SENDS. GALLAGHER