Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ROME4023
2005-12-07 17:10:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Rome
Cable title:  

INTERIOR MINISTER ON OLYMPICS SECURITY, MUSLIM

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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 004023 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/06/2015
TAGS: PREL ASEC PTER EFIN PGOV IT ANTITERRORISM FORCE PROTECTION
SUBJECT: INTERIOR MINISTER ON OLYMPICS SECURITY, MUSLIM
OUTREACH, PASSPORTS

Classified By: AMBASSADOR RONALD P. SPOGLI FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 004023

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/06/2015
TAGS: PREL ASEC PTER EFIN PGOV IT ANTITERRORISM FORCE PROTECTION
SUBJECT: INTERIOR MINISTER ON OLYMPICS SECURITY, MUSLIM
OUTREACH, PASSPORTS

Classified By: AMBASSADOR RONALD P. SPOGLI FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Minister of Interior and Chief of Police
DeGennaro December 6 expressed readiness to cooperate fully
with the USG on Olympics security issues. Besides the
Olympics, Italian security authorities had identified 13,000
potential targets around the country and instituted measures
to protect them. The Minister said he had set up a new
Muslim Advisory Council to tackle practical problems of
integration. He felt Italy's first-generation immigrant
worker Muslim population was an inhospitable environment for
extremists. Those prone to extremism, whom he estimated at
no more than three percent of the total population, were
aggressively monitored. Over two hundred had been expelled
in recent years. Discussing the visa waiver program, the
police chief said the MOI planned to bring new biometric
passports on line everywhere in the April-July timeframe.
Meanwhile, five regional centers would issue photodigitized
passports. The Minister and police chief both expressed
willingness to explore additional cooperation with the U.S.
on both terrorism finance issues and terrorist data-sharing.
END SUMMARY.

Olympics Security
--------------


2. (C) Ambassador, accompanied by Pol M/C, December 6 hosted
Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu and Chief of Police
Giovanni DeGennaro at his residence to discuss Olympics
security, Muslim outreach, and terrorist financing and
data-sharing efforts. The Ambassador noted USG appreciation
for the briefings and exchanges on Olympics security that
DeGennaro had provided Adviser to the President on Homeland
Security Fran Townsend the previous week. He said clear
communications and transparency were a vital part of our
Olympics planning, and urged prompt follow-up on our request
for additional details. (Note: The Ambassador personally
delivered to DeGennaro December 2 our specific list of
requests for information about Italian contingency planning
for natural, conventional attack or CNB disasters.) The

Ambassador also stressed the importance of briefing key
sponsors and the press on security preparations in the run-up
to the Games. He asked the Minister and DeGennaro for their
assessment of the terrorist threat.


3. (C) Both men acknowledged the Ambassador's point on
sponsor and press briefings. DeGennaro noted that a
substantial volume of information had been provided to U.S.
officials on Olympics security planning and said the MOI
would work with us on follow-up issues. On the threat,
Pisanu said terrorists pursue the targets where they have the
best chance of success. If one site is well-guarded, and
another not, then the second becomes a more attractive
target. So, in addition to tight Olympics security, the
ministry had identified 13,000 possible targets around the
country and developed measures to protect them.

Muslim Outreach
--------------


4. (C) The Ambassador asked Pisanu about his recently
announced Muslim Advisory Council. Pisanu said the council
was intended to address practical, social issues such as
issuance of work permits and religious training in schools.
The intent was to develop a tool to help promote integration
into Italian society. Even the UCOII (Union of Islamic
Communities and Organizations in Italy),reported to have
ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, had joined. Pisanu said he
firmly believed it was wiser to include, rather than exclude,
such groups. He noted that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt
seemed interested in advancing its cause through political
participation. If the Muslim Advisory Council proved
successful on the national level, the minister said, similar
bodies could be established on the provincial level.


5. (C) Pisanu said the Muslim community in Italy was not the
same as that in France and other European countries. It was
smaller and more diffuse. Most were first-generation
immigrants who were after work. Given the nature of Italy's
Muslim community, any operation involving extensive
preparation and a welcoming host community as an operating
base would be difficult. Still, there will always be some
prone to extremism, but the minister estimated these counted
for no more than three percent of the community in Italy.
The advisory council was designed to reach out to the other
97 percent. The three percent were aggressively monitored --
mosques, schools, bakeries, butcher shops, meeting places.
And over 200 persons had been expelled from the country in
the past few years. This meant that perhaps 2,000 had been
identified and put under watch.

Visa Waiver Program and Passports
--------------


6. (C) Ambassador prodded Pisanu and DeGennaro on the
timetable for issuance of photodigitized passports, noting
that visa demand at our embassy and consulates had risen up
181 percent in the past month. The Minister said he had
hoped for "more friendly treatment" in order to have avoided
the current need for Italian citizens to apply for a U.S.
visa since they were developing a new passport. Meanwhile,
five regional offices would be issuing photodigitized
passports. DeGennaro telephoned his ministry during the
discussion to ask about the timetable for issuance of the new
biometric documents. He reported that they were scheduled to
come on line everywhere in the April-July timeframe.

Terrorist Financing and Data-Sharing
--------------


7. (C) The Minister expressed interest in cooperation on
terrorist financing. Prefect Carlo DeStefano in the Ministry
of Interior was the right point of contact. DeStefano also
sat on an interministerial committee that included the
ministries of Economy and Finance. The Ambassador said we
were interested in developing ideas for better data-sharing
of terrorist databases. Pol M/C noted this could included an
actual exchange of 200 names that would allow both sides to
examine some of the practical issues in making such an
arrangement work. Pisanu said Italy would be prepared to
share "500 percent" of its national information and DeGennaro
asked where the information would be coming from. Pol M/C
explained that it would be from our interagency Terrorist
Screening Center and the next step was to figure out who
should be talking to whom. DeGennaro said in the first
instance we should provide him with the details of any
proposal and he would then make a recommendation to the
Minister.

Comment
--------------


8. (C) COMMENT: This exchange occurred during a private,
informal lunch at the Ambasador's residence. All discussion
was in Italian; Pisanu and DeGennaro were friendly and
engaged. Both appeared attentive to the Ambassador's
suggestions on Olympics security follow-up and to the need
for security briefings for sponsors and press. They seemed
open to the ideas we advanced about developing cooperation on
terrorist financing and data-sharing, although they wanted
details on what agencies would be providing information and
how things would work. The Minister takes obvious pride in
his initiative for outreach to the Muslim community in Italy
(an effort that has generated some political heat on the
right). At the same time, he and the police chief were
unambiguously firm in their ongoing efforts to monitor, and
if need be, expel any individuals in the community advocating
violence or extremism. Pisanu made no effort to disguise the
fact that he had hoped for "more friendly treatment" on the
visa waiver front, noting Italy's constancy as a friend and
ally. But he made equally clear that he had no desire for
this difference to impede our security, law enforcement, and
counter-terrorism cooperation. END COMMENT.
SPOGLI