SUCCESSFUL TERORRISM FINANCE CONFERENCE HOSTED IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 004059

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EUR/WE - GCLEMENTS AND MHALL; EUR/PPD; EB;
IIP/GEUR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIN KTFN PTER KPAO SP
SUBJECT: SUCCESSFUL TERORRISM FINANCE CONFERENCE HOSTED IN
MADRID



1. (U) SUMMARY: From November 14-16, the Fundacion Jose
Ortega y Gasset hosted a conference entitled Terrorism
Finance: What Control is Possible? The conference was
attended by a diverse mix of government officials, academics,
journalists, and students. The Embassy contributed by
providing speakers from the USG. Assistant Secretary Wayne's
presentation on designations generated a great amount of
interest. The Public Affairs section also set up a series of
successful interviews that garnered favorable media coverage.
A greater effort should be made next time to generate
attendance from the private sector. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) From November 14-16, the Fundacion Jose Ortega y
Gasset hosted its fourth annual conference under its
Permanent Seminar on Studies on Terrorism series. The
subject of this year's conference was Terrorism Finance: What
Control is Possible? The conference was attended by a
diverse mix of government officials, academics, journalists,
and students. As in past years, the Embassy contributed by
providing speakers from the USG. The Public Affairs section
also set up a series of successful interviews that garnered
favorable media coverage.


3. (U) Three different panelists provided the U.S.
perspective. Michael Hurley, Senior Director for Policy at
the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, gave an account of how the
9/11 terrorist attacks were financed from the point of view
of the 9/11 Commission. Interviews with Hurley appeared in
the Spanish dailies El Pais, El Mundo, and ABC. William
Baity, Deputy Director of the Department of Treasury's FinCEN
(Financial Crimes Enforcement Network),provided an overview
of his organization and how it interacts with other USG
agencies. Baity also noted that his organization works
closely with SEPBLAC, Spain's financial intelligence unit.
The last USG presentation was given via digital video
conference by Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business
Affairs Anthony Wayne, accompanied by David Nelson, Director
of the Office of Terrorism Finance and Economic Sanctions at
the DOS.


4. (U) The aforementioned USG visitors, a U.S. Embassy
representative, and Senior Special Agents Armando Astorga Jr.
and Mark Middleton of the Department of Homeland Security's
Financial and Trade Investigations Division, participated in
a roundtable luncheon during the conference which featured
Antonio Camacho Vizcaino, the Ministry of Interior's
Secretary of State for Security. Camacho led the group in an

SIPDIS
interesting debate about the necessities of information
sharing amongst Spain's own government entities, as well as
with foreign governments. He also mentioned the battle that
Spain faces with the hawala money transfer network, and noted
that many of the hawaladars do not know that they are
transferring money to and from terrorists.


5. (U) Spain's Minister of Interior Jose Antonio Alonso was
the most senior GOS speaker. He introduced the conference
together with U.S. Ambassador Aguirre. Both of their
presentations received good press coverage. Alonso noted
that the Ministry was active in its struggle against
terrorism, and mentioned that it currently had 85 separate
ongoing terrorism finance investigations underway. The
Minister indicated that the implementing regulations to the
2003 Terrorism Finance Law were in an "advanced state of
progress."


6. (U) Substantively, the most interesting GOS presentation
was by Telesforio Rubio, General Commissioner for
Intelligence at the Directorate General of the Police. He
complemented Michael Hurley's presentation by giving a
detailed account of how the March 11 Madrid train bombings
were financed. Rubio presented information that differs from
previous press accounts. For example, he stated that the
terrorists had access to more money than suggested by prior
press accounts' estimates of the cost of the bombings,
typically from 30,000 to 40,000 euro. Rubio stated that the
explosives were obtained in a drugs for explosives deal in
which the value of hashish traded was roughly 100,000 euro
street value. He revealed that the police found a reserve of
cash and drugs which gave the terrorists access to
approximately 1 million euro. He did add the caveat that the
investigation was still ongoing, thus his presentation was
not definitive.


7. (U) Assistant Secretary Wayne's presentation on
designations elicited a great deal of interest from the MFA
officials attending the conference. The attendees found the
conceptual approach to be intriguing. One MFA official
confessed to us that the different evidentiary standards we
use for prosecutions and designations "sounded foreign" to
him. MFA officials and a high-ranking Ministry of Interior
terrorism advisor both asked for a copy of A/S Wayne's
remarks. This should prove to be an excellent basis for a
richer dialogue on this topic.


8. (U) In the future, a greater effort should be made to
generate attendance from the private sector. Deputy FinCen
Director Baity explained briefly how his agency tried to
obtain feedback from the private sector on a regular basis.
Further, other presenters mentioned that the private sector
has to implement often costly terrorism finance-related
regulations. In fairness to the Foundation, it had tried to
organize a dinner with financial sector representatives but
was forced to cancel it due to scheduling conflicts of the
invitees.


9. (SBU) Embassy Comment: It was clear from our conversations
on the margins of the conference with police and financial
intelligence unit officials that the GOS still takes the
struggle against terrorism finance very seriously. When
questioned about the delay in the implementing regulations to
the 2003 Terrorist Finance Law, a key MFA contact replied
that the law had been passed during the previous conservative
government's tenure, and thus it may be politically difficult
to implement. It would be unfortunate if this were the case,
although, irrespective of how much longer it takes to
finalize the implementing regulations, the GOS continues to
place a great deal of emphasis on the terrorism
finance-related aspects of terrorism prevention and
investigation. As in previous years, this year's conference
served U.S. public diplomacy purposes and enhanced
working-level contacts. End Comment.


AGUIRRE