09ASTANA626, KAZAKHSTAN: AMBASSADOR DELIVERS DEMARCHE ON

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Reference ID	Created	Released	Classification	Origin
09ASTANA626	2009-04-13 10:03	2011-08-30 01:44	CONFIDENTIAL	Embassy Astana

VZCZCXRO8262
OO RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLH RUEHNP RUEHPW
RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHTA #0626 1031003
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 131003Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5152
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE 1486
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0864
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0551
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1567
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFAAA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC 1049
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC 0963
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2268
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 2598

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASTANA 000626 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/A, EUR/RPM 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/13/2019 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MOPS NATO AF KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN:  AMBASSADOR DELIVERS DEMARCHE ON 
AFGHANISTAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO DFM ZHIGALOV 
 
REF: A. STATE 31102 
     ¶B. ASTANA 0604 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard E. Hoagland, Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
¶1. (C) The Ambassador delivered reftel A demarche on the 
conclusions of our Afghanistan-Pakistan strategic review and 
requesting specific Kazakhstani contributions to Afghanistan 
to Deputy Foreign Minister Konstantin Zhigalov on April 13. 
He provided Zhigalov with non-papers on both issues, 
explaining that he had given them to Presidential Foreign 
Policy Advisor Kairat Sarybay on April 8 (reftel B).  The 
Ambassador pointed out that our request to Kazakhstan is in 
line with previous bilateral conversations.  He noted in 
particular that in meetings in Washington and Kabul, Deputy 
Defense Minister Lt. Gen Bulat Sembinov had said Kazakhstan 
might consider deploying a military engineering team to 
Afghanistan as a third step in its military engagement, 
following deployment of a small number of staff officers to 
ISAF headquarters and a medical unit.  The Ambassador asked 
for an official response to our request, in which we would 
welcome any other proposals Kazakhstan might have to assist 
Afghanistan. 
 
¶2. (C) Zhigalov promised Kazakhstan would provide an official 
response.  He said that he was well aware of the plans to 
send Kazakhstani officers to ISAF and deploy a medical unit, 
but the proposal to deploy a military engineering team was 
"quite a new one" for him; he described it as something 
Kazakhstan should seriously think about.  Zhigalov added that 
the Kazakhstanis are considering initiating a program to 
educate Afghans in Kazakhstan.  He envisioned the program 
providing full multi-year university education, though the 
Ministry of Education still has to decide on the details, 
including the number of students, and the Kazakhstanis need 
to consult with the Afghan government on Afghanistan's 
specific needs.  He explained that the Afghans might 
particularly welcome sending Afghan students to Kazakhstan 
because Kazakhstan is a fellow Muslim country and provided 
university education to Afghans during the Soviet period. 
Zhigalov expected that Kazakhstan would cover the costs of 
education and accommodation, but would look to other partners 
in Afghanistan to pay for transportation costs. 
 
¶3. (C) COMMENT:  In general, Kazakhstan is quite well 
disposed to help in Afghanistan because they know it is in 
their interests to do so.  That a military engineering unit 
was "quite a new one" for DFM Zhigalov does not signify 
reluctance on his part.  Rather, it's likely that he's simply 
not up to date on Deputy Defense Minister Sembinov's 
thinking.  While our reftel A "ask list" for Kazakhstan 
includes a request for agriculture and water experts, their 
plan to offer full university education for Afghan students 
seems fairly well advanced, and should be considered 
seriously.  END COMMENT. 
HOAGLAND

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