UPDATE ON DUTCH COUNTERTERRORISM PLANNING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 001847

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/22/2014
TAGS: PTER PGOV PINR NL
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON DUTCH COUNTERTERRORISM PLANNING

REF: A. (A) THE HAGUE 1201


B. (B) THE HAGUE 1167

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Daniel R. Russel for reasons 1.5(b) an
d (d).


1. (C) Summary: In a July 21 meeting with DCM, Joustra
briefed on his plans for a new agency that would integrate
C/T policy, threat analysis, and operations under a senior
coordinator reporting to the Justice (and Interior)
Ministers. Joustra said the two Ministers had approved the
outlines of the plan and that, subject to expected Council of
Ministers, endorsement in late August, his goal was to stand
up the new system by January, 2005. The centerpiece of the
new agency would be an inter-agency terrorism threat analysis
unit modeled on the British JTAC. The position of national
coordinator for crisis management and security (created in
late 2003) would be folded into the operations unit under the
C/T coordinator and new legislation would be introduced to
enable the central government to direct action by the local
authorities, who currently have nearly complete autonomy over
security measures. We judge Joustra,s plans to be admirably
on target. He is a savvy operator with a good grasp of The
Hague,s bureaucracy and politics, but his proposal is
remarkably ambitious and must clear a number of formidable
obstacles to be realized in full in the next six months. End
summary.


2. (C) Dutch C/T coordinator Tjibbe Joustra reported to DCM
July 21 that he had obtained approval from the Justice and
Interior Ministries for his restructuring proposal at a
meeting the week of July 12, that the Cabinet,s &National
Security Council8 subgroup chaired by the Justice Minister
would endorse it on August 20, and that the Council of
Ministers would formally approve it the following week (o/a
August 27) along with a letter of notification to Parliament
to be delivered in September. Joustra said he will begin
implementing his restructuring plans after the Council of
Ministers meeting, without waiting for the parliamentary
debate, and is aiming for a January 1 start to the new system
) a target he admitted would be difficult to meet.


3. (C) Joustra said he had overcome considerable opposition
to his far-reaching proposal in the Dutch bureaucracy. He
initiated a quiet survey of senior Dutch law enforcement and
intelligence officials that revealed near-unanimity of view
that the Dutch C/T system was ineffective -- most rated their
own agency performance as &bad.8 The Joustra plan calls
for the establishment of a new (yet unnamed) Counter
Terrorism Authority or Agency headed by a national C/T
coordinator ) for the time being, himself ) reporting
directly to the Justice and the Interior Ministers and
comprised of three units:

- A Policy Unit will be staffed by officers assigned by the
Justice and Interior Ministries, responsible for coordination
within the GoNL, drafting new legislation, setting guidelines
for national and local agencies, and some bilateral
coordination.

- An Integrated Threat Analysis Unit: Modeled on the UK JTAC
(Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre),this unit will bring
together AIVD and MIVD (civilian and military intelligence),
KLPD (national police),Customs, and other law enforcement
players (probably to include prosecutors). The unit,s
mission is sharing and analyzing terrorist threat information
and categorizing threat levels. Joustra said he was putting
particular emphasis on selecting a top-notch team leader (who
he wished to send to the US and UK early for training and
consultations). The Netherlands unfortunately does not have
many (any) analysts and the unit will take a long time to
develop.

- A &Projects8 Unit will direct national and local
authorities to take countermeasures in response to threats or
threat levels. The current national coordinator for crisis
management and safety ) a position created only last year )
would be incorporated into this unit. New legislation must
be put in place to give the National Coordinator and the
Projects Unit authority to order local police and mayors to
take action, since the current system gives virtual autonomy
to the localities.

- Two other elements of the new Authority will be
communications, (i.e. disseminating information about threats
or countermeasures) and international liaison. Joustra
agreed that it would be important for selected nations to be
able to interface with the authority, albeit not as a
substitute for liaison with security services or other
agencies.

Other Issues
--------------


4. (C) Joustra also briefed on a task force called &The
Info Box8 cell created recently at AIVD, which includes
representatives of the KLPD and IND (immigration). He
described it as a long-overdue step to facilitate
communication on suspected extremists in the Netherlands.
The focus is on the watch list of approximately 150
individuals of concern, largely North Africans and asylum
seekers. This is something that should have happened long
ago, he said, but not part of his new architecture.


5. (SBU) In response to DCM,s question, he said that fellow
Dutchman Gijs de Vries, the EU C/T coordinator, has met with
him several times, but Joustra said he felt that de Vries had
a far harder job in effecting reforms on an EU scale. Since
Dutch coordination with the EU on C/T policy will remain with
the Ministry of Justice, Joustra did not expect to have much
ongoing coordination with de Vries.


6. (SBU) DCM expressed thanks for Joustra,s efforts and
openness, and offered full USG assistance in standing up a
viable C/T system. He underscored the importance of timely
information sharing with U.S. and urged Joustra to help in
overcoming the widespread Dutch view that a &U.S. nexus8
needed to be established before information was passed to us.
Joustra and all Dutch services should look to us as a
resource, tap into our expertise, and err on the side of full
disclosure. Joustra said he agreed. DCM shared the
&Patterns of Global Terrorism8 and other releasable
material, and also briefed Joustra on Embassy concerns
regarding cross-border mobility and terrorist facilitators
(such as forgers and traffickers).
RUSSEL