Cablegate: German Response to Demarche On Pakistan Donors

VZCZCXRO3796
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHRL #1605 3371030
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021030Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2744
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 0158
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 0660
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0987
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0726
RUEHDO/AMEMBASSY DOHA PRIORITY 0121
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 0477
RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR PRIORITY 0095
RUEHKU/AMEMBASSY KUWAIT PRIORITY 0117
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 0418
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 0245
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 0559
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 1598
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 0249

UNCLAS BERLIN 001605

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR SCA/PB(TOWNSWICK), EUR/AGS(SCHROEDER),
EEB/IFD/ODF AND IO/EDA
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIN PREL GM PK
SUBJECT: GERMAN RESPONSE TO DEMARCHE ON PAKISTAN DONORS
CONFERENCE

REF: A. STATE 124618
B. BERLIN 1548

1. On December 1, Econoff met with Gudrun Sraega, Head of
Division, South Asia, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to
encourage German participation in the proposed December 16
Pakistan Donors Conference in New York (ref A). Other than a
recent inquiry by the Japanese, Sraega said she had not been
aware of plans for such a conference. In response to her
question, Econoff explained that the proposed event was
unrelated to the activities of the Friends of Pakistan or the
Frontier Trust Fund. Sraega was very curious as to the level
of U.S. participation. She also requested more details on
the guest list and organization of the event, which Econoff
subsequently provided.

2. As Sraega only learned of the conference through the
demarche, she was unable to provide details of Germany's
participation in the event or planned contribution. Citing
his busy schedule, she said she doubted Foreign Minister
Steinmeier would be able to attend, though she did not rule
it out. She noted that Germany would in any event send a
representative, but was unsure whether representation would
come from the Foreign Ministry or Development Ministry. She
was pessimistic Germany would be able to make a significant
contribution at such short notice, beyond what it has already
committed to provide in other fora (ref B).

3. Demarche points were also shared with contacts at the
Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development.
TIMKEN JR

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