TERRORISM FINANCE: UK DOES NOT INTEND TO REQUEST

C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 005956 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EB/ESC/TFS YORKS, EUR/PGI REASOR, EUR/UBI ROY, S/CT KUSHNER, TREASURY FOR MENDELSOHN NSC FOR HINNEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/13/2016 TAGS: ETTC KTFN PTER PREL EU UK SUBJECT: TERRORISM FINANCE: UK DOES NOT INTEND TO REQUEST UN DESIGNATION FOR TERROR PLOTTERS REF: 8/11 LONDON DAILY REPORT Classified By: Economic Counselor Sandra Clark for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: The UK does not intend to request a UN 1267 designation in the short term for the nineteen suspects associated with the failed aircraft terror plot whose assets were frozen by the Bank of England on August 11 (reftel). According to HM Treasury officials, the decision not to pursue a UN designation stems from a desire not to overburden the UK security services and from indications that the nineteen individuals do not have any assets overseas. End Summary. ¶2. (C) According to Patrick Guthrie, Head of the Financial Sanctions Unit at HM Treasury, the government has decided not to pursue an immediate UN 1267 designation of the 19 individuals whose assets were frozen by the Bank of England on August 11 (for a complete listing, see http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/ financialsanctions/sanctions060811.pdf). According to Guthrie, the UK's Terrorism Finance Action Group decided not to pursue a UN designation at present for two reasons. First, it was decided that preparing the statements of case for a UN designation would put too much strain on the security services' limited resources. He added that their energies were better directed at further investigating the foiled plot in the hope of uncovering additional leads. In this regard, Guthrie noted that the designation was based on domestic legislation implementing UNSCR 1373 which allows the Chancellor to order the freezing of assets based on "reasonable grounds to suspect" links to terrorism. A UN designation would require the security services to demonstrate a link to al-Qaeda -- something that might not be easy in the context of the rapidly evolving investigation. Second, Guthrie said that, based on an initial review, HMG was not aware of any of the designated individuals having any assets overseas, meaning that a UN designation would have limited operational value. ¶3. (C) Guthrie added that a decision not to pursue a UN designation now did not mean that the UK would not seek one in due course. He also said that he was quite pleased that the "UK has in place a proactive regime that allowed it to react so quickly and to make a real difference." Visit London's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/london/index. cfm Tuttle