US embassy cable - 04THEHAGUE2490

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 THE HAGUE 002490 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EUR, SA, NP, S/CT AND IO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/27/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PK, NL 
SUBJECT: DUTCH PROVIDE READOUT OF BILATERAL MEETING WITH 
MUSHARRAF 
 
 
Classified By: Acting POL Counselor Nathaniel Dean for Reasons 1.4 (b/d 
) 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: Both the Dutch and Pakistanis are pleased 
with the September 26-27 visit of President Musharraf in The 
Hague.  The bilateral visit included an audience with the 
Queen, meetings with parliamentarians and business 
executives, and a discussion with the local Pakistani 
community.  The primary focus of the trip was economic, with 
Musharraf hoping to inspire greater investment in Pakistan. 
In his meeting with Acting PM Zalm, Musharraf emphasized that 
Pakistan has come a long way down the road of democratic 
reforms, but still needs more time.  He also discussed WMD 
non-proliferation, relations with Pakistan and India, 
counterterrorism efforts and Afghanistan, Pakistani views on 
UN Security Council Reforms, and the question of his military 
uniform.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) Poloff spoke September 28 with Pakistan Desk Officer 
Ozlem Canel immediately following Canel's participation in 
the working lunch between Acting PM Zalm and Pakistani 
President Musharraf. Canel called the meeting "interesting 
and impressive" as well as extensive.  Canel said she had 
just briefed the Dutch Embassy in Washington and expected the 
Dutch MFA's Secretary General to brief his State Department 
equivalent in the afternoon.  While the meeting was chaired 
by Finance Minister Zalm (acting in his role as Acting PM due 
to PM Balkenende's serious illness), FM Bot attended the 
meeting and raised several questions and fielded responses to 
some questions. 
 
WMD 
--- 
 
3. (C) According to Canel, Musharraf was first to raise the 
issue of Weapons of Mass Destruction.  He said he is well 
aware of international concerns on this issue, and that he is 
open to cooperation.  He "guaranteed" that Pakistan's nuclear 
assets are "completely under control" and that Pakistan has 
no plans to proliferate either knowledge or weapons.  He 
assured the Dutch that all weapons are under strict custodial 
control, and that an organization that he himself chairs is 
"tailor-made" to ensure nuclear controls and 
non-proliferation. 
 
4. (C) The Dutch raised their concern about the export of 
sensitive nuclear technology and asked how it would be 
prevented.  Musharraf provided his "complete assurance" that 
there would be no export of this technology, and specifically 
that it "would never be exported to Iran."  He described the 
comprehensive export control regime passed by the Pakistani 
National Assembly, which Canel believed constituted a big 
step in the right direction. 
 
Sustainable Reform 
------------------ 
 
5. (C) Political developments in Pakistan were also a major 
focus of discussion.  Musharraf said he "truly believes in 
democracy" but that democracy "until now" never really 
functioned in Pakistan -- he emphasized that Pakistan was 
nearly declared a "failed state" in the recent past. 
Musharraf said he believed democracy was slow in taking root 
because of a lack of (a) democracy at the grass roots, and 
(b) checks and balances.  He believed that the new Local 
Governance Act, which decentralizes powers and allows elected 
governance at the grassroots level, had gone far toward 
resolving the first need.  He also believed that the NSC, 
which he established, addressed the "realities of Pakistan" 
and also provided checks for the Presidency and the military 
and other branches of government.  In short, Canel said 
Musharraf believes that he has introduced sustainable 
democracy to Pakistan.  However, he also expressed his 
concerns and lamented that it has taken longer than he 
expected to get democracy to "take root."  He said that 
"regional and domestic realities" give rise to concerns about 
the "continuity of the reforms" that he began.  According to 
Canel, he seemed to be afraid that even after these decisions 
had been made, the processes would not necessarily continue 
toward democracy on their own.  He emphasized that Pakistan 
is "on the right path" but "needs more time."  He indicated 
that he "had thought three years would be enough time" but 
that in Pakistan the reform effort is so comprehensive - 
changing the social structures - that he had been wrong that 
such a transformation could be brought about in three years. 
He said that Pakistan needs more time to ensure that 
democracy will take root.  Canel believed this was the 
primary message Musharraf wanted to convey in the meeting. 
 
Afghanistan 
----------- 
 
6. (C) Turning to regional developments, Musharraf emphasized 
that Pakistan is at the frontline in counterterrorism 
efforts.  On Afghanistan, Musharraf said "we are doing what 
we can" especially in border areas to counter terrorism. 
Musharraf also emphasized that they were doing all they could 
to make sure voting registration for the Afghan elections 
takes place as well as they could.   He said he would make 
sure as much as possible that nothing would derail the 
elections.  Musharraf did express his concern, however, that 
the representation of the majority Pashtun group could be a 
potential cause for concern in a post-election Afghanistan, 
depending on the outcome. 
India 
----- 
 
7. (C) On the issue of rapprochement with India, Musharraf 
emphasized the processes of confidence-building measures and 
composite dialogue both need further work with the Indians. 
He assured the Dutch that he is both sincere and committed in 
these efforts.  He also said his opinion is that the Indian 
side is also sincere and committed.  He believed that India 
especially wanted to find a bilateral solution to the 
problems, and emphasized that this is a final chance for 
bilateralism between Pakistan and India. 
 
"Roots of Terrorism" 
-------------------- 
 
8. (C) Musharraf said that Kashmir was a problem in which, 
like Palestine, lack of a solution could provide a situation 
in which "root causes of terrorism" could easily spread.  He 
discussed the need to take away the motivation to spread 
terror, to counter the mechanism for recruitment, and then to 
counter the remaining isolated extremist element.  Canel 
commented that Musharraf was clearly calling for a 
comprehensive process for countering terrorism.  Musharraf 
hoped that finding a solution on Kashmir would not only solve 
a majority of problems between India and Pakistan, but that 
in this way it would also remove a potential root cause of 
future terrorism. 
 
UNSC Reform 
----------- 
 
9. (SBU) On the issue of UN Security Council reforms, 
Musharraf said Pakistan does not look favorably upon the 
proposal.  He said that even though the present system is not 
perfect, Pakistan would prefer to keep it unchanged. 
 
Uniform 
------- 
 
10. (SBU) On the issue of Musharraf's military uniform 
(Deputy PM Zalm quipped "turning to the issue of your 
wardrobe, I see you are wearing a suit"), Musharraf said "I 
have not yet decided" when will be the best time to 
relinquish the military uniform.  He said that he had to take 
into account the "political realities" of Pakistan, and to 
find the right time to relinquish the uniform." 
 
Press and Pakistani Impression 
------------------------------ 
 
11. (U) Press reported that Acting Prime Minister Zalm had 
congratulated Musharraf on the successful elimination of 
Pakistan's most-wanted terrorist Amjad Hussain Farooqi, 
reportedly calling the killing justified in this case, where 
arrests do not always succeed."  Zalm also told press he had 
spoken with Musharraf about improving the rights of women and 
minorities, foreign policy issues such as Iraq and 
Afghanistan, and nuclear issues. 
 
12. (SBU) Pakistan Embassy Political Minister Malik Azhar 
Ellahi told poloff September 29 that the entire delegation 
was extremely pleased with the visit.  He said that Musharraf 
had begun his visit by conveying a message of "enlightened 
moderation" to members of the Pakistani diaspora community in 
the Netherlands.  On Monday Musharraf had an audience with 
the Queen followed by meetings with parliamentarians and the 
business community, in addition to the working luncheon with 
Zalm.  Ellahi said Musharraf's primary objective was to 
discuss economic opportunities in Pakistan and to attract 
further investment to the country (Note: Dutch companies 
ABN-Amro, Shell and Unilever are already active in Pakistan), 
and that he was met with a warm welcome and praise regarding 
both the internal situation in Pakistan and Pakistan's role 
on global issues.  Ellahi said other issues that arose 
included a general exchange of views on the situation in Iraq. 
 
Comment: Positive Dutch Impression 
---------------------------------- 
 
13. (C) Canel's impression was the Musharraf was speaking 
during the luncheon not as a chief of army, but really as a 
President.  She said he appeared truly committed to bringing 
about political, social, and economic reform, and that he 
seemed to view his military roles as one component function, 
and that he said he did not want to do both.  Canel believed 
Musharraf's foremost goal was to ensure the continuity of 
reform in his country, and that he was indeed reluctant to 
act too quickly out of fear of derailing his country's 
progress. 
SOBEL