MALAYSIAN INTENTIONS FOR THE LONDON CONFERENCE

UNCLAS KUALA LUMPUR 000055 SIPDIS SENSITIVE FOR EAP/MTS, S/SRAP FOR JARRETT BLANC, AND SCA/A FOR TOM GRAMAGLIA AND CAROLYN COBERLY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON EFIN AF MY SUBJECT: MALAYSIAN INTENTIONS FOR THE LONDON CONFERENCE REF: STATE 6355 -- OUTREACH ON LONDON CONFERENCE (SBU) Poloff discussed talking points (reftel) with Mr. Mohd Hussain Abu Bakr, Principal Assistant Secretary in the MFA's South and Central Asia Division, on January 25. According to Hussain, Malaysia would be represented by Foreign Minister Anifah Aman at the London conference. Hussain commented that Malaysia "is willing to continue its current program" of supporting Afghanistan by providing training to its civil servants, specifically in the fields of IT, education, public and civil service administration, and diplomacy. Hussain did not indicate to Poloff any intent by the GOM to increase its current assistance or to conduct any of its training in Afghanistan, policy options which senior officials in the Ministry of Defense and at the Malaysian Embassy in Washington have been indicating are under active GOM consideration. This past week, Ministry of Defense contacts told DAO that the GOM plans to send defense officials to Afghanistan to review and conduct reconnaissance on appropriate GOM assistance to Afghanistan, but did not mention a specific time line for dispatching this team. (Comment: We find it somewhat troubling that the MFA action officer for Afghanistan is seemingly unaware of any recent discussions about Malaysia ramping up its assistance to Afghanistan, but this could possibly be explained by the fact that most of these conversations have been conducted outside MFA channels. Post recommends a senior-level pull-aside with FM Anifah and his team in London to confirm Malaysia's intentions on the assistance front. End Comment.) KEITH