Cablegate: U.S. Response to Kazakhstan,S Request for Support

VZCZCXYZ0012
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #8190 0580633
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 261737Z FEB 10
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ASTANA PRIORITY 4494-4495
INFO RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 7709-7710

UNCLAS STATE 018190

SENSITIVE

C O R R E C T E D COPY (SENSITIVE CAPTION ADDED)

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PARM PREL PTER KGIC KZ RS US
SUBJECT: U.S. RESPONSE TO KAZAKHSTAN,S REQUEST FOR SUPPORT
TO HOST GLOBAL INITIATIVE CONFERENCE

REF: ASTANA 000179

1. (U) This is an action request for Embassy Astana.
Please see paragraph 3.
SUMMARY
2. (SBU) This cable provides guidance to Post on
responding to the Government of Kazakhstan,s (GOK) offer to
host a Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT)
conference in Astana on or around April 7. While the GICNT
Co-Chairs, the United States and the Russian Federation,
greatly appreciate the GOK offer, we are unable to support an
event during the proposed timeframe, as the United States,
Russia, and many other GICNT partners will be busy preparing
for the April 12-13 Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in
Washington, DC. The GICNT Co-Chairs wish to learn more about
Kazakhstan,s goals and proposed discussion topics for the
event, and would welcome a GOK-hosted GICNT conference that
strengthens the GICNT partnership and provides Statement of
Principles (SOP)-focused GICNT products. (Note: The GICNT
SOP is provided for reference in para 8 and is also available
at www.state.gov/t/isn/rls/other/126995.htm).
OBJECTIVES
3. (SBU) Department requests Post coordinate with Russian
Embassy counterparts to deliver a joint demarche informing
appropriate GOK officials of the following:
-- Thank the GOK for its active role in the GICNT and for the
gracious offer to host a GICNT activity.
-- Communicate GICNT Co-Chairs (United States and Russia)
concerns regarding the timing of the proposed conference on
or about April 7, in light of the preparation activities that
the United States, Russia, and many of the GICNT partner
nations will be undertaking in advance of the NSS.
-- Request the GOK provide details on the proposed agenda and
goals of the conference to the Co-Chairs as soon as possible.
Specifically, which principle(s) from the GICNT SOP will the
conference address? What GICNT product will be developed
from the conference proceedings?
-- Request the GOK provide a response to the Co-Chairs as
soon as possible for further consideration.
REPORTING DEADLINES
4. (U) Department requests Post report GOK,s response by
March 8, 2010.
BACKGROUND
5. (SBU) The United States and the Russian Federation, as
Co-Chairs of the GICNT, discussed the GOK,s proposal and
agreed that holding a GICNT conference in Astana the week
prior to the NSS is not possible. The United States and
Russia are also concerned that the GOK did not provide
information on the content of the proposed conference,
identify the principle(s) from the GICNT Statement of
Principles which this conference will support, or identify
the shared product that will be developed as a result. As
discussed during the January 2010 GICNT Exercise Planning
Group (EPG) in Budapest, Hungary, the Co-Chairs are placing
new emphasis on the focus and outcome of each GICNT event.
No event will be endorsed by the Co-Chairs unless it
specifically supports and advances the SOP and includes a
post-activity product for distribution among the GICNT
partners. The Co-Chairs welcome a GOK-hosted event following
the NSS, but it must first meet these criteria.
6. (U) Background on the GICNT: The GICNT is a
cross-cutting strategic framework of 77 partners and four
official observers that are determined to strengthen
individual and global capacity to prevent, detect, and
respond to a nuclear terrorist event. Partners of the GICNT
are committed to a set of nuclear security principles that
encompass a broad range of deterrence, prevention, detection,
and response objectives. Through multilateral activities and
exercises, partners share best practices and lessons learned
in order to strengthen both individual and collective
capabilities to combat the threat of nuclear terrorism.
7. (U) During his April 2009 Prague speech, President
Obama called for the GICNT to become a &durable
international institution.8 The United States and Russia,
Co-Chairs of the GICNT, are currently taking tangible steps
that will transform the GICNT into an action-oriented and
institutionalized program. These steps include strengthening
the Terms of Reference, a document which outlines the
structure of the GICNT and describes the role of partners and
observers. The revisions will include activating the
Implementation and Assessment Group to serve as an advisory
body for strategic and policy-related GICNT issues.
Additionally, the GICNT has a series of workshops scheduled
for 2010 covering topics such as nuclear forensics, nuclear
detection, legal frameworks, terrorist financing, and
information sharing.
8. (U) Begin Text of the GICNT Statement of Principles:
Participants in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear
Terrorism are committed to the following Statement of
Principles to develop partnership capacity to combat nuclear
terrorism on a determined and systematic basis, consistent
with national legal authorities and obligations they have
under relevant international legal frameworks, notably the
Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism,
the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material
and its 2005 Amendment, United Nations Security Council
Resolutions 1373 and 1540. They call on all states concerned
with this threat to international peace and security to make
a commitment to implement on a voluntary basis the following
principles:
--Develop, if necessary, and improve accounting, control and
physical protection systems for nuclear and other radioactive
materials and substances;
--Enhance security of civilian nuclear facilities;
--Improve the ability to detect nuclear and other radioactive
materials and substances in order to prevent illicit
trafficking in such materials and substances, to include
cooperation in the research and development of national
detection capabilities that would be interoperable;
--Improve capabilities of participants to search for,
confiscate, and establish safe control over unlawfully held
nuclear or other radioactive materials and substances or
devices using them.
--Prevent the provision of safe haven to terrorists and
financial or economic resources to terrorists seeking to
acquire or use nuclear and other radioactive materials and
substances;
--Ensure adequate respective national legal and regulatory
frameworks sufficient to provide for the implementation of
appropriate criminal and, if applicable, civil liability for
terrorists and those who facilitate acts of nuclear terrorism;
--Improve capabilities of participants for response,
mitigation, and investigation, in cases of terrorist attacks
involving the use of nuclear and other radioactive materials
and substances, including the development of technical means
to identify nuclear and other radioactive materials and
substances that are, or may be, involved in the incident; and
--Promote information sharing pertaining to the suppression
of acts of nuclear terrorism and their facilitation, taking
appropriate measures consistent with their national law and
international obligations to protect the confidentiality of
any information which they exchange in confidence.
Global Initiative participants recognize the role of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the fields of
nuclear safety and security and the IAEA has been invited to
serve as an observer to the Initiative. All participants
commend the IAEA for its action in the field of nuclear
security. Participants intend for the IAEA to contribute to
the Initiative through its ongoing activities and technical
expertise.
The initial partner nations intend to establish a terms of
reference for implementation and assessment to support
effective fulfillment of the initiative, including by
facilitating the provision of assistance to participants that
may require it, and facilitating suitable exercises.
They express the desire to broaden participation in the
Global Initiative to other countries who share the common
goals of the Initiative, are actively committed to combating
nuclear terrorism, and endorse the Statement of Principles.
End Text of the GICNT Statement of Principles.
POINT OF CONTACT
9. (U) The Department greatly appreciates Post's
assistance. All cables associated with the GICNT should be
slugged to the Department for ISN/WMDT and the relevant
regional bureaus. E-mails regarding the GICNT may be sent to
globalinitiative@state.gov
CLINTON

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