US embassy cable - 05ALGIERS2264

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 002264 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/09/2020 
TAGS: PREL, MARR, AG, Blue Lantern 
SUBJECT: ALGERIAN MOD AGREES TO COOPERATE ON BLUE LANTERN 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard W. Erdman: reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (SBU)  On November 8 the Ministry of National Defense sent 
DATT a letter whose bottom line, after four paragraphs of 
venting over the freeze on license authorizations, was that 
the Ministry has agreed to provide &certifications of 
receipt for all materials of American origin.8   Prefatory 
language in the letter notes the Ministry,s regret and 
surprise at the &Department of State,s8 decision to freeze 
export license authorizations for Algeria. The Ministry, the 
letter plaintively continues, does not understand the reasons 
for such a decision, in view of the political will of each 
side, our excellent political and economic relations and, in 
particular, the development of U.S.-Algerian military 
cooperation in recent years.  Nor does the Ministry 
understand why such a freeze should extend to contracts with 
non-American firms working with U.S. firms. 
 
2. (SBU)  The letter also criticizes the September 
cancellation of a joint DSCA/State visit, implying the issue 
might have been resolved earlier had the delegation come. 
&If the question of a certificate of final use is the 
principal reason for this decision, it is appropriate to 
point out that the Ministry of National Defense was prepared 
to receive a delegation of American experts to discuss this 
question.  The visit was unfortunately cancelled by the U.S. 
on the eve of the departure of this team for Algiers.8  In 
any case, the letter contends disingenuously, &Algeria has 
never responded negatively to the American requests on this 
subject.  On the contrary, it informed the Defense Attache 
that the request was being studied and evaluated in terms of 
Algerian law and regulations.8 
 
COMMENT - RECOMMENDATION 
------------------------ 
 
3. (C)  The Defense Ministry,s letter is welcome news, 
despite the swipes at the Department and the self-serving 
interpretation of the leadup to our freezing the export 
license authorizations.   Admitting honest error and backing 
down is not exactly a part of this proud nation,s culture, 
so if a little venting is the price to pay for getting this 
issue to come out right, so be it.  In this regard, we know 
that President Bouteflika was briefed on this issue by 
presidential Chief of Staff Belkheir following the latter,s 
conversations with the Ambassador, and there are some 
indications Bouteflika may have engaged on this issue, making 
clear to the military he did not agree with their stance and 
wanted this problem resolved.  In any case, assuming the 
promised certification letter is satisfactory, we should take 
the high road and be as forward-leaning as possible in our 
response, treating the Blue Lantern issue as a temporary 
misunderstanding, moving quickly to lift the authorization 
freeze, and making clear that putting this issue behind us 
will open doors for expanded cooperation.  More specifically, 
we recommend that we: 
 
-- reschedule as early as possible (early December?) the 
visit of the DSCA/State team that was cancelled in September 
in order to encourage better communication, clear up any 
residual misunderstandings, build good will, and brief on 
systems Algeria has expressed interest in. 
 
-- take advantage of such a visit to have an initial 
discussion of when we might schedule the session of the Joint 
Military Dialogue. 
 
-- have DOD A/S Rodman, in his capacity as the head of the 
U.S. JMD delegation, send a warm letter to Minister-Delegate 
Guenaizia, welcoming the positive decision as a step that 
will open doors to greater cooperation and noting that he 
looks forward to visiting Algeria for the next JMD 
 
-- take advantage of Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gaid-Salah 
mid-November visit to General Jones to reinforce our positive 
reaction to the Ministry,s decision to cooperate on Blue 
Lantern. 
ERDMAN