VZCZCXYZ0009
PP RUEHWEB
DE RUEHRA #0636 2350808
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 230808Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY RIGA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4299
INFO RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0019
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 1192
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 2155
UNCLAS RIGA 000636
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: MASS PARM MARR AF RS LG
SUBJECT: LATVIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANA HELD UP BY RUSSIAN DELAYS
1. The Latvian MOD has informed us that a number of items that
Latvia has pledged to the Afghan National Army are delayed due to a
nearly year long effort to get retransfer authority from Moscow.
With President Zatlers hoping to visit Afghanistan in September, the
Latvians would welcome any assistance or ideas in facilitating the
process in Moscow.
2. The items in question are 398 7.62mm RPK light machine guns, 1035
7.62mm SKS carbines, and 4512 7.62mm AKM assault rifles, all
originally from Russia. These are part of equipment donations to
the ANA that the Latvians have pledged in NATO meetings. They
actually began the process of seeking retransfer authority for these
items in fall 2006, in advance of the NATO summit in Riga. They
renewed the request most recently in a June 6 letter from MOD State
Secretary Edgars Rinkevics to Russian State Secretary and Deputy
SIPDIS
Minister of Defense General Nikolay Pankov. Inquiries result in
Russian answers of new bureaucratic hurdles that must be overcome.
3. Please advise of any suggestions or ideas that we might pass to
the Latvians in attempting to navigate this process.
Seldowitz