TERRORIST FINANCE: IARA INFORMATION REQUEST

C O N F I D E N T I A L DUBLIN 001634 SIPDIS EB/ESC/TFS (EGOFF) S/CT (TKUSHNER) EUR/UBI IO/PHO (PEREZ) NSC (MRUPPERT) TREASURY (JZARATE) OFAC DIRECTOR (RWERNER) E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/27/2014 TAGS: KTFN ETTC EFIN CVIS PREL PTER LVPR SUBJECT: TERRORIST FINANCE: IARA INFORMATION REQUEST REF: A. STATE 229377 ¶B. STATE 230265 Classified By: POL/ECON Counsellor Mary Daly, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Emboff raised points in reftels with contacts in the Justice Ministry and Department of Foreign Affairs. Both ministries greatly appreciated the information in Ref B. Regarding Ref A, both ministries confirmed that there are no legal grounds under which they can prevent Buisir's travel at this time, nor can they limit the amount of money he could carry with him, should he decide to travel. They did confirm, however, that he is under "close observation". He is living openly and still receives welfare payments from the State. According to DoJ, should designation move to the level of UNSCR 1267 or 1373, Ireland will automatically freeze assets of Buisir, including stopping his welfare payments. The same would happen if the EU Clearinghouse were to designate Buisir. We are asking the ministries to clarify under what conditions they could limit his travel. (Buisir is an Irish citizen.) Both DFA and DOJ contacts added that they were pleasantly surprised at the lack of public attention on this case. Since the initial designation, the press has published only two articles, both of which were accurate and fair. In the past, Buisir has pled his case to the press to garner public sympathy. For reasons unknown, this time, he has not. ¶3. (C) Contacts also shared information on current and prospective laws. The current penalty for financing terrorism is a maximum fine of 3000 euros. The Criminal Justice and Terrorist Offences Bill of 2002 will be debated the first week of November. The DFA expects it to pass as an Act. If so, the penalty for terrorism financing will become a fine of 10 million euros and 20 years in prison. The Minister of Justice will also have authority to place assets into High Court following a Gardai investigation. One of the reasons for the delay of this Bill is that Ireland has very strong private property laws, which will cause some debate when the Bill is tabled. When the Bill becomes Act, as expected, Ireland will have more recourse to act bilaterally, in cases such as Buisir, and not have to wait through UN 1267 or 1373 clearinghouse processes. GOI officials expect the Bill to pass, because authorities want more legislative power to fight terrorism financing. In the meantime, they are likely to support and welcome designation of Buisir, and IARA onto either 1373 or 1267 lists. BENTON