Cablegate: Update On Iaea Safeguards Agreement

VZCZCXRO8325
RR RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHMK #0298 1290946
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 080946Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY MANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7846
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHBVAKS/COMUSNAVCENT
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS MANAMA 000298

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENRG KNNP BA
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON IAEA SAFEGUARDS AGREEMENT

REF: A. STATE 48610
B. BUTLER-STUKALIN EMAIL OF 05/07/2008

1.(SBU) A/DCM met with MFA Legal Adviser Dr. Yusuf Abdulkarim Mohammed on May 7 to discuss the status of Bahrain's IAEA Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA). Dr. Yusuf confirmed that the ratification process was still pending.

2.(SBU) The government submitted the proposal for CSA ratification to the parliament in March and it remains in committee in the lower house. The ratification became ensnared in an unrelated dispute over the questioning of a Minister which prevented the lower house from acting on all but the most urgent business for five weeks. The parliament will conclude the current session on May 13. Dr. Yusuf lamented that it was not realistic to expect that the ratification would happen before the session ends. He noted that, given King Hamad's emphasis on meeting all international legal framework requirements on nuclear technology, it was conceivable that the ratification could be effected by Royal Decree. (NOTE: The parliament will not reconvene until October, after Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holiday. Absent a decree, it is unlikely that ratification could be completed before November.) ********************************************* ******** Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website: XXXXXXXXXXXX********************************************* ******** HENZEL

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