Avoiding a Crisis: Lakhzov-East Moreland talks

[Lakhzovia]

Office of the President
of Lakhzovia

To our friends in East Moreland

I was dismayed, and saddened to learn of the recent attempted terror attacks in your country. It was with great shock that I was informed that the perpetrators were Utman terrorists that had abused the humanitarian spirit of your country in order to inflict a wound upon you.

The further news that some within my government may have been aware of a potential threat and not passed this on is a source of great personal shame to me. While it is true that there is no formal intelligence sharing arrangement between our nations, it is my feeling that East Moreland's friendship and recent role in the Lakhzov civil war demands better than the treatment it has received.

I therefore wish to suggest a meeting between myself and an appropriate member of the East Moreland government to address the issues that currently strain our relationship, and chart a path to a more cooperative future.

May the blessings of Emet be upon you

Sachim Kadassa
President of the Lakhzov Republic

[DaveIronside]

The people of East Moreland are grateful for your concerns regarding terror attacks.

We are naturally concerned about the potential failure of passing on relevant information and believe talks as you suggested are a good step forward in ensuring such issues can be resolved and avoided. To that extent please expect my sister Princess Freya and Major Alex Redfern to arrive in Lakhzovia at your earliest convenience. They will also be accompanied by our Foreign Minister Mr.Edward Tamana.

I believe that the situation can be concluded in such a way as to find a positive way forward.

May The Gods Watch Over You and Your Nation Know Peace.

King David III of East Moreland

[Lakhzovia]

Kadassa waited at Nakim International Airport for the arrival of the Morelanders in a reception area that had been set up for the occasion. While normally he would meet visiting dignitaries at the Presidential Palace he had felt that personally meeting them at the airport to escort them to the Palace would convey a deeper respect for them.

This whole situation had been an enormous headache for him, threatening an international incident and closer scrutiny of his administration at just the time he could not afford it. In part he blamed himself; he had been so wrapped up in the politicking necessary to push forward his agenda that he had allowed too much autonomy to the Security Services, it was as if he had learned nothing from what happened with the Prefecture.

At last the plane carrying the Princess, the Major and the Minister touched down on the runway and began to taxi towards the terminal building. Kadassa rose from his seat and got in position to greet the arriving delegation.

"On behalf of the people and government of Lakhzovia I welcome you to our humble country." he said bowing slightly in deference to them.

[DaveIronside]

"There is something awkwardly uncomfortable about Lakhzovia" Alex said as they flew across the Illumic, "Like how after a long run you sit down and while you know the chair should be really soft and comfortable your just not able to put your legs anyway that makes it feel good. On the surface the Lakhzovians are like borderline legit, but I'm sure there is more than meets the eye." It was as honest an assessment as Alex could give and Freya nodded her acceptance of her husband, and one of East Moreland's most insightful military officers opinions.

"But can we prove these e-mails?" Freya asked as they began their descent.

"Not to a point that a court would rule in our favour, but then again we aren't going to court. I think its highly likely that they did come from the government but its one of those they'll say they didn't, we'll kind of have to accept that but they'll know we probably don't." Alex responded, Tamana meanwhile was more or less along for the ride, a royal and a Red Legionnaire senior officer would be probably enough to handle most of this situation. With the aircraft now stopped Redfern swung on his bright red military jacket and fashioned his beret into shape as Princess Freya headed towards the door. Alex followed her down the steps with Tamana bringing up the rear.

Freya returned a respectful nod to Kadassa as he bowed. "Thank you for arranging this meeting as you're probably aware us Morelanders get slightly miffed when someone tries bombing us, even more so when their not even our terrorists." She said making the East Moreland stance clear from the get go. "We'd like to thank you for taking these e-mail leaks seriously. I have to tell you we've been investigating this Trajan character and so far we've found most of his information has been reliable so when this came up we obviously have raised eye brows." Freya waited to try and gauge her hosts response.

[Lakhzovia]

"Of course, of course. I perfectly understand your country's anger at this situation, I am certain if the events were reversed I would feel much the same as you. Personally I am furious at the situation and deeply embarrassed at my failure to catch this sooner" Said Kadassa as he ushered them into the reception area for light refreshments.

Following this the delegation travelled to the Presidential Palace where the Morelanders were given an opportunity to freshen up in a guest suite before meeting the President for lunch on the roof terrace, where they found him pouring himself a cup of the heavily spiced Lakhzov tea that was a staple of any meal.

Once they were seated he began "I deeply regret the circumstances under which this meeting is taking place." he said placing his cup on the table and steepling his fingers "It has long been my intention to reach out and strengthen the bonds between our countries, and yet here we are now discussing a matter of great shame to me.

Perhaps you came expecting denials from me, I offer you none. An internal probe I ordered has confirmed the veracity of the leaks. While I offer you my assurances that I had no knowledge of this activity I am also sure that this will be of little comfort to you, which leaves me in a bind.

I have dismissed the officials involved and ordered a procedural review to ensure such activities do not occur again, however this too I doubt is sufficient to erase the harm done to the ties between us. I ask you therefore what remedy the Kingdom of East Moreland would seek from us? It is certainly my intent to ensure that going forward our relationship is one of trust and friendship, however I feel that you may be best position to suggest what terms such a future could rest upon."

[DaveIronside]

"I appreciate your honesty" Freya said, "As such then one of your officials has in my view aided terrorists, as such you can fully expect when I return home that a formal request for extradition will be made."

"Also" Alex interupted, "I would like to see this probes findings. After all with respect we've got your word this is what happened, we're yet to see how you've reached this conclusion. You get bonus marks for showing your working outs in exams after all." Alex said rather coldly. He'd done his own poking around and had a few ideas about what had probably gone down and was now interested to see if they matched his own. Tamana meanwhile just sat quietly, things were still within the realms of national security and Freya and Redfern were far more suited to sorting that. Alex placed his briefcase down and flicked it open. "And while we're talking about probes" he placed a black box about the size of a brick on the table. "That is a hard drive containing the details of around 10,000 Lakhzovian refugees in East Moreland." He pulled a notepad out from his breast uniform pocket and removed a pen from his briefcase. "Its encrypted, password is StopBombing1234." He wrote it down and handed the paper across. "We'd appreciate leaving here with up to date checks on their backgrounds." It was obviously a tall order but was something else to add some pressure.

It was only now that Tamana spoke up, "With respect to these refugees we've seen no attempts by your government to get them home, many are at our facility called Hunter's Vale. Its an old nuclear bunker site and Air Force base, around 4-5,000 of them reside there and truth be told we could do with the place back. It needs a good refit and restock to ensure any future disaster can be meet with a good response. It was never designed for long term habitation and I can envisage it getting tense, especially as these bomb attempts meant we had to ramp up security. So I suspect knowing what steps you'll be taking to bring people home will be useful to all parties."

[Lakhzovia]

Kadassa sat impassively for a moment before breaking out into a friendly chuckle "I like you Morelanders." he said "You really have a flare for the dramatic. Let me guess, the plan is to overwhelm me with accusations, requests and demands in order that I be set off my feet? If only I had diplomats as accomplished as you all." he took a sip from his cup and casually helped himself to a pastry before continuing "Your request for the findings of our probe? That is reasonable. As hurt as I may be in your lack of trust in my word I am certain I will recover soon enough. I will arrange to have the report sent to you after we conclude here. Likewise, I will have that.." Kadassa gestured towards the hard drive that had been placed on the table "...taken by my men who will run the requested background checks.

Now as for the refugee situation, I must express my gratitude, on behalf of my country, for the great humanitarian efforts you have undertaken to protect the lives of our citizens; it has not gone unappreciated. You may be aware that there are ongoing difficulties in the restoration of property to refugees, in part due to the lack of documentation and in part due to the Court of Disputations being overwhelmed with the number of cases.

However as you may also be aware a part of my legislative agenda for my new mandate is aimed at establishing an Utman autonomous region in the north of the Transmecuria province. We envision that such an entity would be able to provide a safe refuge for returning Utman where they would be governed by their own people. As such we feel that once the autonomy is established that we would be in a position to receive returnees currently hosted in your country."

Kadassa scratched his chin as if trying to work out how to proceed onto his next point "Finally as for extradition, I fear that this will not be possible. For one our two countries do not have a formal extradition treaty with each other, and I doubt that were the situation reverse that East Moreland would deport government officials to Lakhzovia to face trial. Second while there has been a breach of trust we cannot establish that there has been a criminal conspiracy to aid terror. The facts are that our agency was aware that the Khaliniz Brigade are active among refugee populations and that they potentially sought to commit acts of aggression against those it considered conspirators against them. However no specific knowledge of targets or means were obtained and thus according to Lakhzov law they cannot be held guilty of aiding the commission of acts of terror. However do not think that this means these men will escape without repercussions. Their behaviour breached the ministerial code and additionally falls foul of laws against causing injury to the State, as such they will be put on trial and punished.

Turning towards the future however I would like to explore potential means to prevent such as this from happening again, as such I would like to float the notion of treaty formalising greater interstate cooperation between East Moreland and Lakhzovia."