Identifier | Created | Classification | Origin |
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06ROME824 | 2006-03-16 10:11:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Rome |
1. (U) Labor Counselor met February 27 and March 15 with Francesco De Stefani, Acting Director of the MFA's UN Office, to deliver reftel demarche and discuss Italy's participation in the International Tracing Service (ITS). De Stefani confirmed that MOD Colonel Sandro Tortoro has replaced Carlo Izzo as Italy's ITS representative. It appears Izzo and Tortoro have been working together on this issue for some years. 2. (C) De Stefani was quick to express appreciation for receiving our demarche and made it clear that Italy supports the ITS and the MFA supports the principle of opening the Bad Arlson holocaust archives to researchers. It appears, however, that the MFA does not know who appointed Tortoro or who in the Italian government makes policy on the ITS. De Stefani raised this problem with MFA DG for Political Affairs Terzi, who told De Stefani to work with the Ministry of Defense to resolve these questions. In a welcome sign that MFA is taking a pro-active role, De Stefani asked Tortoro to come to the MFA to discuss Italy's role in the ITS and its position on the archives. De Stefani promised a readout as soon as he had a position to report. 3. (C) De Stefani was very pleased to receive the reports of the last three ITS meetings and visibly distressed to see a reference to Italy's non-participation in the Lijnzaad-Mertz letter. When asked why Italy had not attended the last three meetings, De Stefani said that Tortoro had claimed not to have received the invitations. When we asked if we could help expedite delivery of the invitations, De Stefani asked that we send them to the MFA (in addition to the ITS invitation sent directly to MOD) and they would ensure Italian participation. If OHI could forward the May invitation, we will deliver to MFA. 4. (C) On the specific issue of reearcher access to Bad Arlson, De Stefani noted that Italy continues to have some concerns about privacy protection and asked for clarification on why the U.S. wanted individual countries to receive ditigitzed copies of archive information. As he had not yet read the meeting notes, De Stefani asked if we could provide a readout on the position of various ITS members on the privacy question. 5. (C) Comment: Without explicitly identifying a religious or cultural bias, De Stefani acknowledged that the MFA was aware of "problems" during Izzo's tenure as ITS representative. De Stefani has a delicate task ahead of him in coordinating a joint position with the MOD, but Terzi's engagement should ensure that Italy at least resumes its participation in ITS meetings. SPOGLI |