US embassy cable - 03THEHAGUE2956

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 05 THE HAGUE 002956 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AC/CB, NP/CBM, VC/CCB, L/ACV, IO/S 
SECDEF FOR OSD/ISP 
JOINT STAFF FOR DD PMA-A FOR WTC 
COMMERCE FOR BIS (GOLDMAN) 
NSC FOR CHUPA 
WINPAC FOR LIEPMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/25/2013 
TAGS: PARM, PREL, CWC 
SUBJECT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC): A/S DESUTTER'S 
CONSULTATIONS IN THE HAGUE - CWC AND OTHER ISSUES 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Eric M. Javits, Ambassador to the OPCW.  Reas 
ons: 1.5 (B, D). 
 
 This is CWC-127-03. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (U) On November 17-18, Paula A. DeSutter, Assistant 
Secretary of State for Verification and Compliance, visited 
 
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The Hague and consulted with officials of the Technical 
Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of 
 
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Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and other officials.  She sought to 
build on relationships with the OPCW and advance verification 
and compliance issues related to the Chemical Weapons 
Convention (CWC). 
 
2. (U) A/S DeSutter also addressed the Western European and 
Other States Regional Group (WEOG) and held bilateral 
meetings with representatives of the United Kingdom, Italy, 
and The Netherlands.  In several of the bilateral meetings, 
the current IAEA-Iran situation was raised.  End Summary. 
 
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Meeting with Director-General Pfirter 
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3. (C) During her meetings with OPCW Director-General (DG) 
Rogelio Pfirter, Assistant Secretary for Verification and 
Compliance Paula DeSutter provided an overview of the VC 
bureau, and raised several issues relating to verification 
and compliance with the CWC.  She stressed the importance the 
U.S. places on Article IX consultations to resolve compliance 
concerns.  A/S DeSutter re-emphasized the U.S. view that the 
Technical Secretariat must achieve and maintain readiness to 
conduct a challenge inspection should one be requested.  DG 
Pfirter fully agreed and explained that the TS has a program 
of exercises which it will continue in 2004.  The DG 
expressed concern that the tenure policy might have an impact 
on readiness due to inspector turnover.  A/S DeSutter also 
expressed her support for U.S. discussions with the TS to 
optimize the use of inspection resources to verify 
destruction activities at chemical weapons destruction 
facilities (CWDFs).  She further pointed to progress that has 
been made to improve the Verification Implementation Report 
(VIR), and the importance of the VIR to States Parties 
assessments of compliance. 
 
4. (C) DeSutter reviewed the progress of bilateral compliance 
consultations with several countries and sought information 
from the DG on the status of accession of Libya to the 
Convention. Responding to her question on the status of 
Libya's ratification of the CWC, DG Pfirter said the Libyan 
UN delegation had approached him recently in New York 
informing him that its government had ratified the Convention 
and plans to deposit its instrument of accession soon.  In 
response to DeSutter's support for shifting verification 
effort to Other Chemical Production Facilities (OCPFs), DG 
Pfirter expressed the opinion that some industrial 
inspections should be repeat inspections, perhaps 5-10 
percent, so that no facility would be considered exempt 
because it had already been inspected.  He asked for USG 
assistance in addressing OCPF inspections in 2004. 
 
5.  (S) During the meeting, DG Pfirter expressed his strong 
support for universality of the CWC.  The DG stated that Arab 
countries also need to take concrete steps to sign the CWC 
and show a degree of commitment to the elimination of 
chemical weapons (CW).  He requested that A/S DeSutter take 
back to Washington his request that North Korean accession to 
the CWC be included during the current six-party talks.  The 
DG said that he has made the same request of China, Japan and 
South Korea and plans to ask also Russia to lend its support. 
 DG Pfirter further mentioned that the Panamanians informed 
him that they had exhausted the possibilities of dialogue 
with the U.S.  Pfirter asked for a non-paper from Panama on 
the issues but has yet to receive it.  He expressed 
willingness to mediate the issue, if called upon. 
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Meeting with the Verification Division 
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6.  (U) A/S DeSutter also met with Horst Reeps, head of the 
Verification Division and several of his senior staff.  In 
discussing the TS efforts to optimize the use of inspection 
resources to verify destruction activities at CWDFs, DeSutter 
advised that any action taken must not decrease the 
effectiveness of verification.  She emphasized that any 
changes should be designed on a case-by-case basis at each 
CWDF.  Reeps expressed his appreciation of U.S. efforts to 
date, and looked forward to the upcoming joint workshop of 
experts.  Reeps also mentioned that the TS raised this issue 
with Russia and stated that it will have to be careful in 
addressing optimization at Russian facilities.  He further 
noted that India is aware of TS efforts to conduct a case 
study of U.S. CWDFs. 
 
7.  (U) During the meeting, Donald Clagett, head of the 
Industry Verification Branch, gave DeSutter an overview of 
Article VI inspection activities for the past two years.  He 
applauded USG efforts to develop a methodology of industry 
site selection criteria for DOC/PSF. DeSutter noted that this 
methodology had originated in the VC Bureau.  Clagett agreed 
that not enough OCPFs have been inspected to date and that 
the January 2004 industry cluster will readdress this issue. 
Clagett mentioned that developing States Parties believed 
that they are being unfairly targeted for OCPF inspections, 
while other smaller States Parties feel good about 
participating in an international multilateral inspection 
process. 
 
8.  (U) A/S DeSutter expressed support for electronic 
submission of industrial declaration and asked Carlos 
Trentadue, head of the Declarations Branch, why the TS has 
not yet made progress.  Trentadue said that he is amendable 
to electronic declaration submissions as this will save 
resources. He noted that timely submission of declarations as 
well as clarification of declarations are important issues 
that remain problematic.  The TS is working with States 
Parties to address these issues.  Trentadue informed DeSutter 
that the TS would be better able to detect discrepancies in 
declarations of transfers of scheduled chemicals if the data 
were available electronically.  In response to a question, 
Reeps stated that Libya so far has not requested TS 
assistance in the preparation of its CWC declaration. 
 
9.  (U) Several senior staff members expressed their view 
that open-source information is valuable in the evaluation of 
declarations.  However, both Trentadue and Per Runn, head of 
the Policy and Review Branch, pointed out that a number of 
States Parties have reacted negatively to TS inquiry based on 
open-sources. Runn also mentioned that the TS is working on 
improving the VIR. DeSutter applauded this and noted that the 
U.S. routinely provides substantive comments to the report. 
 
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Meeting with UK Delegation 
-------------------------- 
 
10.  (S) In her meeting with Ambassador Budd of the United 
Kingdom, A/S DeSutter expressed her support for continuing 
bilaterally the challenge inspection dialogue that began 
earlier this year.  Budd noted that the Executive Council 
last addressed the issue of challenge inspections almost 
three years ago.  He asserted that the challenge inspection 
mechanism must always be in a state of readiness.  DeSutter 
informed the Ambassador that both the U.S. and UK are in 
agreement on the issues related to the Russian destruction 
program and applauded the on-going compliance dialogue 
between VC and UK experts. 
11.  (S) Budd raised UK concerns about the status of Iran's 
nuclear program and explained the UK has been working closely 
with France and Germany on the draft IAEA Board of Governor's 
resolution.  He also asked A/S DeSutter's view on the 
possible effects of raising internationally mutual concerns 
about Iran's CW program.  A/S DeSutter informed him that the 
U.S. is holding follow-up CW questions to Iran until after 
the IAEA meeting this week in Vienna.  Budd stated that the 
UK dialogue with France and Germany on nuclear issues may at 
some point spill over to include CW issues and emphasized the 
importance of building broad EU support.  Budd also inquired 
on the U.S. position on the declaration and destruction of CW 
stocks if they are found in Iraq.  He asked U.S. views on 
whether the OPCW would become involved and stated that Iraqi 
accession to the CWC could be a part of a larger strategy of 
openness and transparency.  A/S DeSutter responded that the 
U.S. would carefully consider how to address the Iraqi CW 
issues of declaration and destruction of stocks and Budd 
noted that the UK will also do the same. 
 
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WEOG Welcomes A/S DeSutter 
-------------------------- 
 
12.  (U) A/S DeSutter addressed the WEOG noting the 
importance of the VIR in addressing verification and the 
importance of using Article IX as a tool to resolve 
compliance issues.  DeSutter also stated the importance of 
increasing the number of inspections for OCPFs and urged the 
WEOG to address this issue in the upcoming Executive Council 
sessions.  During the questions and answer session, a number 
of States Parties supported A/S DeSutter's views on OCPFs. 
Spain took the opportunity to raise the importance of the 
challenge inspection tool. 
 
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Meeting with Italian Delegation 
------------------------------- 
 
13.  (S) Italian Alternate Perm Rep Giancarlo Malpaga 
informed A/S DeSutter that Libya did not inform Italy of a 
specific date on which Libya would deposit its CWC instrument 
of ratification to the UN.  Malpaga mentioned that Italy met 
with the Libyan delegation on the margins of the 8th 
Conference of the States Parties in October.  Malpaga said 
that Italy has since demarched Libya seeking further 
clarification on ratification and is awaiting a response.  He 
was unable to provide an update on the nature of conversion 
activities at Rabta and asserted that he is unaware of any 
other States Party that may be providing CWC assistance to 
Libya.  Malpaga said that Italy has made clear to Libya that 
it expects a full declaration in accordance with the CWC. 
When asked about recent EU statements on the challenge 
inspection mechanisms, Malpaga replied that beyond general 
support of the mechanism, the EU was divided on how to use 
challenge inspections. 
 
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Meeting at Dutch Foreign Ministry 
--------------------------------- 
 
14.  (U) Mr. Maurits Jochems, Director of the Security Policy 
Department of the Netherlands MFA, welcomed DeSutter to 
discuss a range of issues relating to the CWC, Iran nuclear 
talks, BWC verification, North Korea nuclear talks and the 
USG efforts to control, sanction and interdict WMD equipment, 
technology and materials.  DeSutter explained the functions 
of the VC bureau and recounted her discussions with the OPCW. 
 Marc Vogelaar, Dutch Ambassador to the OPCW, expressed his 
support for DG Pfirter and noted Pfirter's businesslike 
approach to managing the OPCW.  A/S DeSutter also discussed 
with Ambassador Arend Meerburg, who oversees the Netherlands 
contribution to Russia CW destruction program, her concerns 
about Russia's failure to address Condition 1.  DeSutter 
reaffirmed that Russia has signed two recent Cooperative 
Threat Reduction (CTR) amendments to ship nerve agent 
reaction mass to Shchuch'ye to complete its nerve agent 
destruction at a declared CWDF. 
 
15.  (U) The Dutch inquired about the progress of the Iran 
nuclear talks in Vienna and the North Korea nuclear talks, 
and expressed their support of the ongoing dialogues.  The 
Dutch also inquired about whether the U.S. would seek to 
develop further verification activities under the BWC.  A/S 
DeSutter expressed her opinion that the BWC is verifiable but 
it is difficult to make cases on noncompliance due to the 
dual use nature of biological facilities.  DeSutter stated 
that more work is needed on the enforcement area.  Jochems 
raised Dutch concerns about reported U.S. efforts to develop 
"mini-nukes" and how this might be seen by some countries as 
an excuse not to join the NPT or to evade obligations under 
that regime.  DeSutter rejected these concerns. 
 
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IT Security and other Data Automation Issues at Technical 
Secretariat 
 
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16.  (U) DeSutter touched on information technology (IT) 
issues in her meetings with the DG, the Verification Division 
and most especially with Director of Administration Herb 
Schulz and Head of the Information Systems Branch, Greg 
Linden.  She spoke of U.S. interest in making the OPCW TS a 
model for IT security standards among international 
organizations.  She made clear her vision of efforts to 
improve transparency in the areas of treaty compliance and 
her belief that an efficient and secure data processing 
system would significantly improve the ability of the OPCW to 
meet its Treaty objectives.  The TS was encouraged to fully 
embrace the IT security audit process, recognizing that 
outside corroboration of a secure automation environment 
would go far in encouraging State Parties to adopt an 
automated declaration process. 
The TS has agreed to a notional baseline audit of the TS' 
secure network for early 2004.  Schulz and Linden noted that 
their system upgrade to Windows 2000 would be completed by 
then and a Phase I prototype for the Verification Information 
System/Relational Database Management System (VIS/RDBMS) 
would be available for demonstration. The U.S. side expressed 
continued concern regarding the size and composition of the 
audit team -- noting that wider representation would be 
preferred for greater acceptance of any report generated 
regarding their review. 
 
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Working Lunch with Selected Ambassadors 
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17.  (U) A/S DeSutter had an opportunity during lunch on 
November 17 to meet with Ambassadors of China, India, Japan, 
South Korea, Mexico, Russia, and the Czech Republic. 
DeSutter explained her role in the USG process and, at the 
urging of the U.S. Del, raised U.S. views on increasing 
inspection activities at OCPFs. Japanese Ambassador Koike 
began a discussion of the challenge inspection mechanism by 
inquiring if a request for a CI would be seen as a routine 
matter or a significant political event. DeSutter replied 
that the first request would be a significant event but that 
did not preclude a request.  Indian Ambassador Cowsik stated 
that a challenge inspection would be a major political event 
as it would represent a lack of trust in other States Party's 
compliance and was intended for somewhat exceptional 
circumstances.  In response to a general question about 
recent EU emphasis on the challenge inspection mechanism, 
Ambassador Onate of Mexico expressed the opinion that the EU 
wanted to emphasize it but did not appear to have any plans 
to call for one. 
 
18. (C) Comment: A/S DeSutter's visit gave the U.S. an 
excellent opportunity to raise to a higher level the 
importance of the verification and compliance message to the 
TS and States Parties.  She also had the opportunity to hear 
 
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a number of differing ideas on a range of issues including 
nuclear, nonproliferation and sanctions. 
 
19. (U)  A/S DeSutter has cleared this message. 
 
20. (U)  Javits sends. 
SOBEL