US embassy cable - 04THEHAGUE2606

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 002606 
 
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 JOECK 
WINPAC FOR LIEPMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM, PREL, CWC 
SUBJECT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION (CWC):  WEEKLY WRAP-UP 
FOR 8 OCTOBER 2004 
 
 
This is CWC-118-04. 
 
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Article VII 
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1.  (U) Facilitator Mark Matthews/UK held a 6 October 
consultation on the recommendations contained in the Second 
progress Report on the OPCW Plan of Action Regarding the 
Implementation of Article VII (EC-38/DG.16, 15 September 
2004).  Delegations welcomed the limited progress made since 
the last report, but expressed deep concern that States Party 
(SP) which have yet to meet their obligations will have done 
so by the CSP-10 deadline.  Delegations noted that 20 
countries have provided no feedback whatsoever on their 
status to either the Technical Secretariat (TS) or other SPs. 
 The U.S. suggested that one way forward would be for the TS 
to host a brainstorming session to consider how best to 
approach these states to at least get a sense of their status. 
 
2.  (U) Delegations requested more TS/SP coordination, 
viewing the current lack of communication a key issue.  Yemen 
noted that it had asked for TS implementation support last 
year, but has yet to have any response to its request.  The 
Czech Republic worried that the network of Legal Experts is 
not being used; Germany also noted that its two legal experts 
have yet to receive a question.  Iran and China noted that 
they both offered to provide assistance but were excluded 
from the list of those SPs who offered implementation 
assistance. 
 
3.  (U) Delegations were not ready to move forward on the EC 
recommendations to the Conference.  A number of suggestions 
were made, and the facilitator plans to hold bilateral 
discussion before drafting a decision document.  The 
Netherlands noted the TS encouragement for SPs to send 
cost-free experts to relevant regional organizations for 
implementation support and announced that it will be 
providing such an expert to the African Group.  On the 
margins, Canada told del rep said it was considering doing 
the same, perhaps targeting the OECS. 
 
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Universality 
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4.  (U) Facilitator Hela Lahmar/Tunisia held a 7 October 
session during which General Chong, the DG's Consultant 
working on Universality for the Korean Peninsula, presented a 
general overview of his work the past year, using as his 
basis for analysis open source material.  Delegations 
welcomed the presentation and asked for paper copies, but 
were advised that without DG approval, nothing would be 
provided.  Delegations noted the open source nature of the 
material and vigorously protested. 
 
5.  (U) In response to delegations' questions, General Chong 
noted that neither he nor other TS officials have had direct 
contacts with North Korea since 2001.  In advance of the 
Asian National Authority meeting in Beijing, the DG sent a 
letter of invitation to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but 
no response was received.  Huang Yu, director of the External 
Relations Division, summarized past TS efforts to engage 
North Korea.  Early on, the TS established a dialog with the 
North Korean mission in Geneva, but this ended in 1999.  Chef 
de Cabinet Rafael Grossi spoke briefly with a North Korean 
representative on the margins of the UN First Committee 
meeting last year, but North Korea has refused to any accept 
OPCW materials or meet with OPCW on the margins of other 
regional meetings.  A number of SPs with bilateral relations 
have included accession to the CWC on their agendas for 
meetings with senior officials, but no progress has been made. 
 
6.  (U) Huang updated delegations on ERD's efforts in support 
of Universality.  Much to everyone's surprise, Syria sent a 
local representative to the Beijing meeting.  A joint 
TS/UK/Japan visit to Cambodia was judged very successful, 
 
SIPDIS 
with possible accession by late 2004.  A UN-sponsored mission 
to Myanmar also created momentum, with accession possible in 
2005.  Bhutan asked for copies of the CWC translated into its 
native language, a requirement for Assembly consideration of 
accession.  The TS is looking for a translator, and estimates 
the translation cost will be 7,000 to 11,000 euros.  Once 
this is done, accession will be straightforward, possibly in 
2005.  Vanuatu indicated that accession may be possible by 
mid-2005, and Iraq plans to accede as soon as it has an 
elected government. 
 
7.  (U) Finally, the DROC will receive a second TS mission 
supported by France and Mauritius.  The team will brief the 
DROC Parliament in late 2004.  The TS/OECS is jointly 
sponsoring an implementation workshop and has included 
invitations to four States not Party from the region.  The TS 
also is participating in UN-sponsored bilateral meetings with 
the Dominican Republic and Honduras. 
 
8.  (U) Javits sends. 
SOBEL