VISIT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL ASHCROFT FOR MLAT SIGNING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 004830

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/22/2014
TAGS: CASC KJUS PREL SP
SUBJECT: VISIT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL ASHCROFT FOR MLAT SIGNING

Classified By: Classified by Charge d'Affairs, a.i., Bob Manzanares; re
asons 1.4 (B) and (D).


1. (C) Summary. Attorney General John Ashcroft visited Spain
on December 17 to sign the bilateral protocols to the U.S.-EU
Mutual Legal Assistance (MLAT) and Extradition Treaty.
During his one-day visit, Attorney General Ashcroft also held
separate meetings with the Minister of Justice and the
Minister of Interior, primarily to discuss bilateral
cooperation on terrorism investigations. The MLAT signing
ceremony and the press conference following the event went
smoothly and received favorable press coverage. During the
bilateral meetings, GOS officials underscored their
commitment to work with the USG to combat terrorism.
Minister of the Interior Alonso expressed interest in
visiting the U.S. in the next several months to meet U.S.
counterterrorism experts. Both the Minister of Justice and
the Minister of Interior drew AG Ashcroft's attention to
Spain's offer earlier in 2004 for talks on the possible
formation of a joint GOS-USG counterterrorism investigative
unit. Their emphasis on the creation of a joint team seems
to be based both on Spain's genuine desire to collaborate
against a common menace and the Zapatero Government's
political need to produce a tangible improvement in relations
with the USG, preferably on a terrorism-related issue. End
Summary.

//MLAT SIGNING AT MINISTRY OF JUSTICE//


2. (U) The centerpiece of Attorney General Ashcroft's visit
was the signing ceremony for the bilateral protocols to the
U.S.-EU MLAT and Extradition Treaty. The event took place at
the Ministry of Justice, with Minister of Justice Juan
Fernando Lopez Aguilar participating for the GOS. The
signing was followed by a short press conference, during
which journalists requested details regarding the function of
the MLAT, as well as more pointed questions regarding the
state of USG-GOS relations. Attorney General Ashcroft noted
that the USG considered Spanish judicial assistance to be
very beneficial and that the MLAT would deepen an already
sound working relationship. For the Spanish side, Minister
Aguilar thanked Attorney General Ashcroft for the United
States' contribution to global security and the fight against
crime and terrorism." Both Attorney General Ashcroft and
Minister Aguilar identified enhanced counterterrorism
capabilities as their most important priority in seeking
improved international judicial cooperation.


3. (C) Following the MLAT signing Aguilar and his senior
staff met with Attorney General Ashcroft, Charge d'Affairs,
senior members of Attorney General Ashcroft's delegation, and
Legat to discuss concrete measures for improving the flow of
law enforcement information in both directions. Aguilar
raised the offer by Spain's National Prosecutor to the USG
for talks on the possible formation of a joint U.S.-Spanish
team to investigate in terrorism investigations of mutual
interest, with a focus on Islamic terrorism. AG Ashcroft
thanked Aguilar for the GOS offer and said that in the USG's
view such joint team should have a broader scope, tackling
the full range of terrorist threats.

//MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR//


4. (C) Following his meeting with Aguilar, Attorney General
Ashcroft met with Minister of the Interior Jose Antonio
Alonso. Alonso said that fighting terrorism - both by ETA
and by Muslim extremists - was among the highest priorities
of the Zapatero Government. Alsonso expressed Spain's desire
to ramp up information exchanges and other forms of
cooperation with the USG against terrorism. He noted Spain's
recent police successes against terrorists, listing the
multiple arrests of Islamic radicals and ETA organizers over
the last several months. On ETA, Alonso said that assistance
from abroad, including from U.S. sources in Nevada and
California, remains an important source of support for the
organization. Like Aguilar, Alonso discussed Spain's offer
of talks on the formation of a joint counterterrorism unit
and urged the USG to take up the GOS suggestion. Alonso said
he would like to visit the U.S., perhaps in March or April,
to meet with U.S. terrorism experts.


5. (C) Attorney General Ashcroft welcomed a visit by Alonso,
noting that he would be departing DOJ but that senior members
of his delegation would remain and would be happy to help
arrange Alonso's trip to the U.S. once the new Attorney
General was in place. Ashcroft said the USG is keenly aware
of the burden Spain has borne over the last decades in its
struggle against ETA and wanted to show its support, for
example by having formally designated ETA as a terrorist
organization. Attorney General Ashcroft said Spain's caution
with respect to recent ETA reverses was well warranted,
particulary since he agreed with Spanish experts that
weakened organizations could be the most dangerous. He said
the new MLAT and Extradition Treaty represented an important
step forward in making the U.S. and Spain better partners,
particularly the provisions that could facilitate the
creation of joint teams.

//COMMENT//


6. (C) Attorney General Ashcroft's visit was an important
symbol of the USG's commitment to work with Spain against
common security threats. His meetings with the Ministers
revealed that, at least among the security agencies, the GOS
understands the nature of the terrorist threat and is eager
to work with the USG to minimize that threat. That partly
explains Spain's emphasis on establishing a joint
counterterrorism investigative unit with the USG, similar to
a unit it has developed with France. The GOS also has a
vital political motive for creating such a unit: it would be
concrete evidence of USG-GOS cooperation against terrorism,
which Zapatero needs in order to counter opposition
accusations that he has fatally damaged Spain's relations
with Washington. Regardless of the political context, we
support holding talks on the creation of a joint
counterterrorism unit as such discussions may help us resolve
operational/procedural issues that have impeded judicial
cooperation in the past. Likewise, we recommend inviting
Minister Alonso to visit Washington as early as would be
practicable in order to cement an already positive
relationship with Spain's most important security official.
MANZANARES