US cable describes PHL's top diplomat at UN as naive

The United States (US) has described the Philippines’ top diplomat to the United Nations (UN) as a determined leader but "naive," said a classified cable message released by online whistle-blower WikiLeaks. The cable was describing Philippine Permanent Representative to the UN, Libran Cabactulan, who was elected president of the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference (RevCon) from May 3 to 28 this year at the UN headquarters in New York. Cabactulan, who sits as the Philippines' chief negotiator in the UN, was described in the cable message as "naive" or lacking in experience or knowledge. The cable message contained confidential diplomatic communication by the US Mission to the UN. It revealed the discussions of Rose Gottemoeller, US Assistant Secretary for Verification, Compliance and Implementation, with key diplomats including Cabactulan, on the sidelines of the NPT Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) in New York from May 5 and 7 last year. "Cabactulan, though perhaps somewhat nave (sic) about the particular issues likely to confront him in his role as the President of the NPT Review Conference, clearly was pleased with his appointment and determined to make the RevCon a success," the cable dated May 13, 2009 said. “He appeared particularly receptive to consultations with the United States throughout the course of preparations for the RevCon," it added. The cable also disclosed that during his meeting with Gotenmoeller, Cabactulan “asked several basic questions on international fuel supply initiatives, expressing confusion about the many different proposals." Gottemoeller and Adam Scheinman, Director of Nonproliferation at the National Security Council, explained that the diversity of proposals provided greater assurance of fuel supply. Such proposals, they said, represented ways of fulfilling the NPT’s Article IV in "proliferation-responsible ways." According to the cable message, Cabactulan “was interested in these responses, but thought more work would need to be done to explain to the international community the benefits of such initiatives." NPT review The NPT contains a 22-point action plan on nuclear disarmament. It discusses: