CWC: MEETING WITH ALGERIAN DELEGATION AND OPCW TO

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000087

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: AL PARM PREL PTER CWC
SUBJECT: CWC: MEETING WITH ALGERIAN DELEGATION AND OPCW TO
DISCUSS THE PROPOSED CHEMICAL TERRORISM CONFERENCE IN
ALGIERS

REF: A. THE HAGUE 00048

B. ALGIERS 00084

C. STATE 01954

This is CWC-11-10


1. (U) On February 11, Delrep Landsman met at the
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons (OPCW) with Algerian DCM Sid Al Branci and
OPCW Technical Secretariat (TS) officials to
discuss the proposed chemical terrorism conference
in Algiers (refs A-C). TS officials present were
Office of Special Projects (OSP) Director Krzysztof
Paturej, OSP Officer Irakli Beridze, and Head of
the Assistance and Protection Branch (APB) Gennadi
Lutay; no officials from the International
Cooperation Branch (ICB) were available to attend.


2. (SBU) After Delrep briefed the TS on the concept
of the conference and shared a draft agenda, the TS
officials expressed enthusiasm for working with
Algeria, the U.S. and the EU in ensuring a
successful event. Paturej said that the OPCW
Director-General (DG) had already indicated his
support for the conference but was unable to commit
OPCW funding. Paturej requested that the Office of
Special Projects serve as the OPCW's lead office on
this conference since the subject matter most
closely reflects OSP's mission, but he recognized
that OSP, with only one officer (Beridze),lacked
the administrative capacity to organize the
conference on its own. APB and ICB are best placed
to play a role in this regard. (Del comment:
Paturej wants to ensure political credit for the
conference falls to OSP, thus further justifying
the work of OSP in the field of counter-terrorism.)


3. (U) TS officials advised that the three
sponsoring parties must decide how involved they
want the OPCW to be in the organization of the
event. If the OPCW is to serve as an official
"sponsor," either the TS would need to allocate
fumds for such an event in the 2011 budget under
the International Cooperation and Assistance (ICA)
Division which Paturej noted could be politically
difficult or the U.S., EU, and Algeria would need
to transfer funds to the TS in separate sub-trust
funds established specifically for the conference.
In a sponsorship capacity, the TS would need to
devote significant internal resources to the
organization of the event, including arranging the
travel for the participants and speakers.
Organizing such an event with over 50 participants
from across Africa would be a substantial
undertaking and would be impossible to do by May 3-
4, as initially proposed by the African Center for
the Study and Research Against Terrorism (CAERT).


4. (U) Instead, the TS recommended that the three
parties simply seek OPCW "support" for the
conference which would allow the TS to get involved
substantively, i.e. providing assistance in
developing the program and identifying speakers,
and logistically, i.e. the issuance of invitations,
with minimal internal cost to the TS. Funds for
the conference would remain with the three parties,
and the TS would need not have to account for the
Qand the TS would need not have to account for the
event in that year's program and budget. Any
administrative costs to the OPCW for helping with
the event would come out of regular OSP/APB/ICB
funds. The TS officials said that in previous
conferences funded by States Parties, money had
always been set aside to cover the cost of TS


participation, and the TS officials asked that
consideration be given in this regard, if not from
the U.S., side then perhaps from the EU.


5. (U) The TS recommended that the three parties
look as an exemplar to the June 2009 international
seminar on national implementation of
nonproliferation obligations which was hosted by
the Bosnian government and supported by the OPCW.
This conference was funded by the EU and
administratively organized by Bosnia, but the TS
issued the invitations and helped devise the
program. Participants corresponded directly with
the Bosnian MFA on registration, travel, and
sponsorship availability. The TS officials advised
that the next step would be for the three parties
to submit a letter to the DG formally requesting
the specific type of OPCW involvement sought in the
conference; without such a letter, the TS cannot
proceed with any further specifics on the
conference.


6. (U) Regarding the substance of the conference,
the TS fully agreed with Algeria that while the
focus should be on Africa, the event should be
international in scope and include other
organizations in this field. The TS offered to use
its network of contacts to ensure participation
from key players in the chemical safety and
security field. Delrep indicated that the U.S.
would not object to having participants/speakers
come from outside Africa but said that U.S. funding
would be targeted at Africa, a point both the TS
and Algeria appreciated. TS officials also thought
the draft U.S. agenda seemed to focus too much in
its current form on the "safety" side of the debate
and not enough on the "security" aspects of
preventing chemical terrorism. The TS also
encouraged the three parties to look at the 2011
time frame, as invitations would need to be sent
out at least five months in advance and the OPCW
would not want the event to compete with other
programs, such as the Assistex 3 exercise in
Tunisia in October. There is also already an OPCW
event scheduled for May 5 in Chile which the DG
will participate in.


7. (SBU) Del Comment: Del recommends that
consideration of the "Bosnian model" as a good
exemplar to follow, and that the USG provide the
Algerian MFA with draft language to insert into a
formal letter to the DG, but that the letter come
from Algeria vice the United States. We believe
the letter should be delivered well before July
when the current DG departs, as the next DG could
not choose to support this conference. Del also
agrees that a 2011 timeframe appears far more
realistic. It seemed that Branci grasped this
reality as well. Finally, Del suggests that U.S.
Embassy Algiers, the Algerian MFA, and the CAERT
convene a meeting in Algiers, if that has not taken
place already. Even with extensive assistance from
OPCW, the organizational and logistical burden lies
in Algeria.


8. (U) BEIK SENDS.
NOLAN