CAIRO REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON JUDICIAL/CRIMINAL

UNCLAS CAIRO 009581 SIPDIS SENSITIVE USDOJ FOR CRIMINAL DIVISION - DAVID WARNER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: CJAN KCRM KJUS EG SUBJECT: CAIRO REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON JUDICIAL/CRIMINAL COOPERATION Sensitive but Unclassified. Please Protect Accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) Embassy Cairo has been working with the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Egyptian Ministry of Justice, and the Regional Representative of the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime to support a Regional Conference on International Cooperation in Judicial and Criminal Matters, to be hosted by Egypt in Cairo on March 8-9. ¶2. (SBU) The Conference, originally proposed by Egypt during bilateral judicial consultations in January 2005, is intended to bring together key working-level judicial officials from countries throughout the region to promote assistance in legal and criminal matters between and among participating countries. The program will particularly stress the importance of establishing and maintaining a central authority to handle international legal cooperation requests. Currently, this concept is underdeveloped in a number of regional states. ¶3. (SBU) A USD 14,000 grant from the Embassy's 632 (a) small grants program has been issued in support of the conference. The grant will be used to support the participation of outside experts in international legal cooperation, to fund translation services, and other logistical support for the conference. (USDOJ also intends to send a small delegation to participate.) ¶4. (SBU) Egypt intends to issue in early January invitations to all Arab League member states to send two representatives involved in policy making and coordination in the fields of mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. Participating countries will be expected to bear the expenses of their delegations. ¶5. (SBU) Egyptian MOJ contacts noted that some invited countries (they mentioned Yemen and Morocco) may have difficulty financing their delegations' participation. Certain NEA posts may wish to consider facilitating host country participation, through MEPI grants or other USG funding sources, in this rule of law strengthening activity. JONES