CWC: WRAP-UP FOR OCTOBER 19-30, 2009

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000659 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, DENYER AND CRISTOFARO) NSC FOR LUTES WINPAC FOR WALTER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM PREL CWC SUBJECT: CWC: WRAP-UP FOR OCTOBER 19-30, 2009 REF: A. THE HAGUE 632 ¶B. THE HAGUE 617 ¶C. THE HAGUE 627 ¶D. THE HAGUE 628 ¶E. THE HAGUE 634 ¶F. THE HAGUE 638 ¶G. THE HAGUE 658 This is CWC-67-09 ¶1. (U) This is an action request -- see para 14. -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Following the 58th Executive Council (refs A-F),no official meetings have yet been held. The Western European and Others Group (WEOG) met on October 20 and 27, with little discussion. Delreps met privately with Iraqi Delegate Muhanned Al- Miahi, and Secretary for the Policy-making Organs Alexander Khodakov on October 27 and October 29, respectively. An initial analysis of turnover of the top structure of the Technical Secretariat (TS) was sent (ref G). -------------- WEOG -------------- ¶3. (SBU) German Ambassador Werner Burkart chaired the WEOG meeting on October 20. He and many other delegates congratulated Ambassador Uzumcu, with a general theme of praise for the process, the role of the Chairman, the conduct of all the candidates, and the consensus reached at EC-58. The meeting was subdued, with little discussion of the EC issues and avoidance of analysis of the DG result, as five WEOG countries had fielded candidates. U.S. Delrep expressed appreciation for the hard-won compromise on low concentrations, for the EU's public questioning of Libya's deadline extension request, and for Ambassador Lohman's facilitation of the discussions with Iran on report language for the EC visit to the U.S. ¶4. (SBU) Dutch Ambassador Lohman noted that the decision text for the budget may cause future difficulties; the Swiss co-facilitator did not attend this meeting. The Swedish delegate noted that Libya had provided more information on their destruction plans following the EU request, and he briefed the group on the last-minute negotiations on the budget language that provided some safeguards that the Council would determine numbers of inspections and not the "industry cluster." He also noted that with the major decisions (DG and budget) completed, issues such as Articles VII and XI will likely dominate the Conference of States Parties (CSP). The French delegate described the EC session as "fruitful" but warned against the precedent of factual reports being changed and negotiations "behind the curtain" (with no specifics on which negotiations). She said that WEOG as the next EC Chair should take a firm hand in guiding discussions. The UK delegate credited the Chairman with greater control over procedures and the improvement in draft texts being circulated in a timely fashion. She also noted that the Iranian delegation left the meeting angry and could become more difficult in the CSP. Italian Delegate Cornacchia thanked everyone for their support to his facilitation on low concentrations. ¶5. (U) At the next regular WEOG meeting on October 27, Coordinator Ruth Surkau outlined the required appointments for the CSP and for the 2010 WEOG members for the Executive Council (EC). She cited the traditional role played by the U.S. and WEOG Coordinator country (currently Germany) in representing WEOG in the General Committee of the CSP. U.S. Delrep and German Ambassador Burkart stated the availability and willingness of their delegations to again play the role of CSP Vice Chair. Surkau also asked for two delegations to volunteer for the WEOG seats on the Credentials Committee. Surkau later sent an e-mail to all WEOG delegations under a silence procedure for the Vice Chairs and requesting volunteers for the Credentials Committee. Although no one volunteered at the meeting, Belgium, the UK and Greece have since expressed interest in the Credentials positions. On the question of who will chair the CSP, no delegation knew whether the Eastern European Group had made a final decision between Ambassadors Verba (Lithuania) and Tomova (Slovakia). ¶6. (U) New WEOG members to be elected to the EC for a two-year term in 2010 will be: Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey. The Benelux countries have revised the originally agreed rotation to have Luxembourg take the EC seat now; they have not decided yet whether Belgium will take the next rotation. Surkau raised the question of interest in the EC Chair which will go to WEOG in May; no one responded. ¶7. (U) The group had no news on upcoming consultations on Articles VII, XI, and X, nor on the EC Chairman's consultations on destruction deadlines or the Open Ended Working Group on Terrorism (Australian Chair Mike Byers was not present at the meeting). UK Delegate Lee Litman announced that he will be chairing a meeting on universality the week of November 9 to discuss draft decision text for the CSP. Irish Delegate Michael Hurley stated that he would be consulting with interested delegations on the parameters of "unforeseen circumstances" but did not intend to present anything to the CSP. Surkau noted that the Russian statement on unforeseen circumstances had been issued as a national paper. (Del Note: At a later social engagement, Delrep was informed by Byers that he and Hurley are intending to hold consultations on their respective subjects on November 19.) -------------- IRAQ FOLLOW-UP -------------- ¶8. (SBU) On October 27, Delrep met with Iraqi Delegate Muhanned Al-Miahi to provide a summary of the early October bi-lateral meetings in Washington and to review the status of the TS visit to Iraq, assessment plans for the bunkers at Muthanna, and reporting requirements for recovered chemical weapons in Iraq. ¶9. (SBU) Al-Miahi stated that, consistent with the discussions in Washington, the Iraqi delegation had formally requested the Director-General to consider sending TS representatives to Erbil, rather than Baghdad, to conduct the initial visit related to Iraq's destruction plans. He indicated that this request was favorably received and that detailed logistics planning is underway, with a trip likely to occur in November, prior to the CSP. ¶10. (SBU) Delrep and Al-Miahi reviewed presentations and materials pertaining to the status of the bunkers in Muthanna provided bi- Qstatus of the bunkers in Muthanna provided bi- laterally in Washington in October. Al-Miahi said that he had reviewed these with his colleague Mohaned Alhelli from the Iraq National Monitoring Directorate during the week of the EC, and Alhelli believed that the information provided in the U.S. paper was not entirely correct based on his practical experience with and personal knowledge of the bunker contents. Al-Miahi stated that Alhelli would return to The Hague on November 26 to attend the National Authority events and would remain through the CSP; he would be available to meet with the U.S. delegation and technical experts to further discuss the matter. ¶11. (SBU) Al-Miahi and Delrep discussed a potential meeting with the TS to review the presently understood status of the bunkers in Muthanna and to verify the treaty requirements. Al-Miahi stated that this could be arranged during Alhelli's visit and offered that the discussion might include potential donors. Al-Miahi emphasized that the Iraqi delegation is interested in pursuing detailed discussions with potential international donors and coordinating their efforts (specifically mentioning Germany, the UK, and Canada). ¶12. (SBU) Delrep and Al-Miahi discussed the destruction of and related reporting on recovered chemical weapons in Iraq. Delrep communicated the issue that since their accession, Iraq is responsible for reporting to the TS on recovered chemical weapons. As the United States continues to destroy such recovered weapons and report to the government of Iraq through the Ministry of Defense, as previously directed by the Iraq government, the information is not being reported to the TS as required. Delrep explained that the United States is currently engaged in training a Chemical Defense Company (CDC) in Iraq to perform the destruction function with an aim to transition this activity to the Iraqi CDC in its entirety in April 2010. However, the reporting requirement presently sits squarely with Iraq and has since entry-in-force in February 2009. ¶13. (SBU) Al-Miahi explained the challenges of communications between Iraqi ministries and further stated that no ministry is interested in taking responsibility for this information. Delrep provided copies of communications to the Ministry of Defense and he expressed surprise that these would be sent to a personal email account, rather than a government email address, explaining that this was largely against routine procedure within the Iraqi government. He stated that the recipient remains responsible for the receipt of this information. However, he inquired about the status of an agreement in writing that outlined the arrangement between the U.S. and Iraq for these situations. (DEL COMMENT: It is clear that the Iraqi officials need to be further educated on their responsibility to report to the TS and that this education is necessary at multiple levels within the GOI. END COMMENT.) ¶14. (SBU) ACTION REQUEST: Del recommends that ISN/CB consider sending a technical or subject expert to meet with Alhelli in advance of the CSP. -------------- CSP PREPARATIONS -------------- ¶15. (SBU) On October 29, Delreps met with Secretary for the Policy-making Organs Alexander Khodakov to discuss the agenda for the CSP and specifically to Qdiscuss the agenda for the CSP and specifically to alert Khodakov to the inclusion of a senior-ranking Department of Defense representative in the U.S. Delegation. Delreps described that the National Statement would likely be delivered by two individuals with the majority of the address from the delegation Representative and a portion delivered by the Alternate, senior official. Khodakov discussed seating arrangements, order of delivery, and speech length, and concluded that this is an agreeable approach. ¶16. (SBU) Khodakov projected that the General Debate would extend through Tuesday, December 1, and potentially into December 2. He opined that although many of the agenda items are in good standing from the success of the last EC session, Article VII may pose a challenge as the mandate needs to be renewed by the CSP and stated that this may be linked politically with Article XI language. He said the Iranian request for a victims' network could re-surface, although it had not at EC-58, and he expects some Iranian mischief on the U.S. destruction deadlines. Khodakov also noted that TS Head of Public Affairs Michael Luhan had requested that the agenda item on the Director-General's appointment be moved up to December 3 in order to receive greater media coverage and timely inclusion in the news cycle. Khodakov expressed the hope that, with five days for the CSP rather than four, and after the completion of so much work at EC-58, including the DG decision and the budget, the CSP would run smoothly and possibly finish early. ¶17. (U) BEIK SENDS. LEVIN