POSTPONEMENT OF HAMAS DESIGNATION: DEMARCHE

S E C R E T THE HAGUE 001586 SIPDIS STATE FOR EB/ESC/ESP, INR/EC, S/CT E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2008 TAGS: CVIS EFIN ETTC KPAL KVPR NL PTER SUBJECT: POSTPONEMENT OF HAMAS DESIGNATION: DEMARCHE DELIVERED REF: A. STATE 173305 ¶B. THE HAGUE 01508 Classified By: A/DCM JESS BAILY FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (S) EconOff delivered demarche ref A to Jan Peter Kleiweg and Wouter Juergens of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs on June 19. The MFA was already aware of the U.S. intent to postpone the designation of the Hamas leaders and linked NGOs prior to the demarche being delivered. ¶2. (S) Kleiweg commented that the Netherlands hopes the European Council meeting in Thessaloniki will produce a political decision, which in turn will enable the EU to move forward on designation. The Dutch Prime Minister is carrying talking points to the meeting that reflect a firm position on Hamas and include elements of the recent U.S. demarche (ref B). The MFA noted their support for the fact that the subject of Hamas will be discussed at the June 20 meeting of the EU clearinghouse in Brussels. BAILY