US embassy cable - 05PRAGUE260

C O N F I D E N T I A L PRAGUE 000260 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2015 
TAGS: AF, EZ, PARM 
SUBJECT: CZECHS SOLICIT U.S. OPINION ON ARMS SALES TO 
AFGHAN GOVERNMENT 
 
 
Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Mark Canning for reasons 1.4 
(a) (b) (c) 
 
1.  (C)  SUMMARY. THIS IS AN ACTION REQUEST. The Czech 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs is beginning to get a number of 
requests from Czech arms firms wanting to sell weapons and 
ammunition to the government of Afghanistan.  The Czech 
Republic has no diplomatic mission in Afghanistan, and 
consequently would like U.S. help in determing whether 
branches of the Afghan government, such as the Ministries of 
Interior and Defense, have sufficient safeguards in place to 
prevent unauthorised diversion of military goods.  Post 
supports such consultations and requests a timely response. 
END SUMMARY 
 
2.  (C)  The Czech Army recently donated a large volume of 
ammunition to be used in training the Aghan National Army. 
The fact that the U.S. Office of Military Cooperation in 
Kabul had oversight responsibility for the donation,  and the 
additional fact that U.S. Task Force Phoenix received the 
materiel and arranged for it to be stored in bunkers, put to 
rest most of the concerns the Czech government had about 
diversion to unauthorised recipients.  This successful 
donation seems to have paved the way for an increasing number 
of commerical deals in which arms and ammunition would be 
sold directly to the Afghan government. 
 
3. (C)  Poloff was called to the MFA on February 22nd for a 
meeting with Petr Kaizer, who heads the office which has 
responsibility for approving arms sales.  Kaizer explained 
that he was considering two requests from Czech firms to sell 
arms and ammunition to the Afghan government.  The first 
involves the sale of approximately 1000 handguns to the 
Ministry of the Interior.  The second involves the sale of 
slightly less than one million rounds of ammunition to the 
Ministry of Defense. The American firm General Dynamics, and 
its subcontractors, would handle shipping in both cases. 
Kaizer added that since the Czechs have no mission in Kabul, 
they are not in a position to determine whether the 
ministries have proper safeguards in place to ensure that the 
materiel doesn't end up in the wrong hands.  He asked poloff 
to check with Embassy Kabul and with Washington,  to see 
whether they had any reservations about the proposed 
transactions.  In the absence of any U.S. reservations, 
Kaizer indicated he would likely approve the request, since 
the Czech government would like to do what it can to help the 
new Afghan government improve security. 
 
4. (U)  Post appreciates the caution shown by the MFA and its 
willingness to consult with us.  We look forward to a timely 
response from Kabul and Washington.  Minimize considered. 
 
CABANISS