Wikileaks - DXCVIII
93971 1/25/2007 15:18 07MADRID134 Embassy Madrid CONFIDENTIAL 07SECSTATE6667 VZCZCXYZ0002 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHMD #0134/01 0251518 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 251518Z JAN 07 FM AMEMBASSY MADRID TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1703 INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 0297 RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 0291 RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0593 RUEHSL/AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA 0136 RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 4973 RUEHBM/AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST 1392 RUEHUP/AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST 0056 RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 0082 RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0847 RUEHCP/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN 4840 RUEHDL/AMEMBASSY DUBLIN 0115 RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 1494 RUEHKU/AMEMBASSY KUWAIT 0119 RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON 1662 RUEHLJ/AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA 0230 RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0809 RUEHLE/AMEMBASSY LUXEMBOURG 1600 RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 2427 RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 2709 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1228 RUEHPG/AMEMBASSY PRAGUE 1036 RUEHRK/AMEMBASSY REYKJAVIK 0023 RUEHRA/AMEMBASSY RIGA 0085 RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 2030 RUEHVJ/AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO 0014 RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0689 RUEHSF/AMEMBASSY SOFIA 0724 RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 3077 RUEHTL/AMEMBASSY TALLINN 0108 RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 7237 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0669 RUEHVI/AMEMBASSY VIENNA 0548 RUEHVL/AMEMBASSY VILNIUS 0102 RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW 0121 RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB 0375 RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0836 RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1458 C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 000134
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
FOR PM/WRA (KATHERINE BAKER) AND EUR/WE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2017 TAGS: MOPS, PARM, PREL, NATO, SP SUBJECT: SPANISH ON CLUSTER MUNITIONS DEMARCHE
REF: SECSTATE 6667
Classified By: DCM HUGO LLORENS PER 1.4 (B/D)
1. (C) ESTHOFF made reftel points January 24 to MFA Disarmament Affairs Deputy Director General Ignacio Sanchez, sharing U.S. concerns about the movement to restrict the use of cluster munitions, inquiring about GOS intentions vis-a-vis the February 22-3 Oslo Conference, and probing to see if Spain might be interested in military-to-military talks on this subject. Sanchez said that Spain had not received an invitation to the Oslo conference and might not attend even if Norway were to send an invitation to Madrid. He said that at an EU meeting last week, Spain learned that only nine EU states had received invitations from the Norwegians.
2. (C) Turning to Spanish views on cluster munitions, Sanchez made the following points:
-- Spain believes that cluster munitions and their use in warfare need to be better regulated via an international instrument. In particular, the use of such munitions against civilians must be prohibited.
-- The ideal venue for addressing such an instrument remains the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). Spain does not/not want cluster munitions addressed via an Ottawa-style ad hoc negotiating forum.
-- Spain wants to make better use of the existing multilateral disarmament framework, including the CCW. Spain believes that addressing cluster munitions via an ad hoc process, as appears to be the intent of the Norwegians, could undermine the CCW. Spain understands Norway's impatience with the results of the November 2006 Third Review Conference of the States Parties to the CCW, but the CCW should be given more time to effectively grapple with the cluster munitions issue.
-- Spain fears that the prominent role given to NGOs at the Oslo meeting could turn it into a "media circus," to the detriment of states seeking effective regulation of cluster munitions.
-- The Foreign Ministry defers to the Ministry of Defense on the question of whether Spain could ever accept a ban on the use of cluster munitions. At the moment, MOD opposes such a ban. Spain remains a producer and exporter of such weapons and MOD believes that the freedom to employ cluster munitions remains an "operational necessity." MFA will not attempt to change MOD views.
-- The U.S. should feel free to approach the Spanish military on the possibility of a dialogue on cluster munitions, but there might not be much to talk about, since both sides agree on their operational utility.
3. (U) POLMILOFF also passed reftel points to MOD contacts. We will report any substantive reaction we receive from MOD. Aguirre
