TERRORIST FINANCING: DUTCH RESPONSE TO SECRETARY'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L THE HAGUE 003021

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EB/ESC/TFS/GLASS, S/CT/NAVRATIL, EUR/ERA/PARKER
NEA, INR/EC
TREASURY FOR INTERNATIONAL BANKING OFFICE, EXECUTIVE OFFICE
FOR TERRORIST FINANCING AND FINANCIAL CRIMES, OFAC (NEWCOMB)
NSC FOR GPETERS
BRUSSELS ALSO FOR LEGATT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/23/2013
TAGS: ETTC PTER KPAL XF NL EUN
SUBJECT: TERRORIST FINANCING: DUTCH RESPONSE TO SECRETARY'S
LETTER ON FREEZING HAMAS FUNDS

REF: A. STATE 318789

B. THE HAGUE 2959

Classified By: Classification Derived from Ref A

(U) Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer signed the
following letter to Secretary Powell at the end of November.
MFA pouched the letter to the Dutch Embassy in Washington for
formal delivery. Department should receive a hard copy in
the next couple of weeks.

BEGIN TEXT OF LETTER TO SECRETARY POWELL

(C) Thank you for your letter of November 18, 2003 regarding
the important issue of tackling Hamas funding by charities.

(C) Let me assure you that the Netherlands is deeply aware of
the importance of severing all links between terrorist
organizations and their financial supporters. We are firmly
committed to effective action, in particular, against front
organizations and fundraisers. We, in fact, took the lead
within the EU by successfully advocating that the Al Aqsa
Foundation, which was providing financial support to Hamas,
be placed on the EU freeze list.

(C) Within the EU, we consistently seek to act against
organizations or individuals who support Hamas or any other
organization on the EU freeze list. The main issue here is
to obtain evidence that will hold up in court. For this
reason, it is of paramount importance that the U.S. and EU
coordinate their activities as closely as possible, through
appropriate channels. We will need to keep improving our
flows of information. The Dutch presidency of the EU in 2004
will give us an extra impetus to achieve results in this area.

END TEXT OF LETTER
SOBEL