NETHERLANDS/TERRORISM FINANCING: OP-ED USEFUL

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000192 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EB A/S TONY WAYNE STATE ALSO FOR EB/ESC/TFS (DNELSON),EUR/UBI, STATE ALSO FOR EUR/ERA, EUR/PGI (LREASOR) TREASURY FOR TFFC (DGLASER) AND OFAC (RWERNER) NSC FOR THINNEN USEU FOR JUNDERWOOD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KTFN EFIN PTER ETTC EUN PREL NL SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/TERRORISM FINANCING: OP-ED USEFUL LEAD-IN TO MARCH CONFERENCE REF: A. 05 STATE 219945 ¶B. 05 THE HAGUE 3342 ¶C. 12/20/05 CONN-EKPUK EMAIL ¶D. 05 THE HAGUE 2356 ¶1. (U) On January 4, the Financieele Dagblad (the Netherlands' equivalent to the Wall Street Journal) ran the Op-Ed provided ref A, with changes approved by EB/ESC/TFS (refs B and C). To date, the paper has not received any follow-up letters or reactions to the Op-Ed. Econoff also followed up with official contacts at the Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs for any reactions. These officials noted that there would not be an official reaction to the article, but that the opinions expressed were clearly in line with the Dutch position on counter-terrorism financing. Moreover, the article served as a useful reminder of some of the key factors in the fight against terrorist financing, including the need for greater political will by governments involved in these efforts. These officials noted the article's emphasis on the important role played by the private sector in this area. They stressed that governments must also be sensitive to complaints from the private sector regarding administrative costs related to implementation and the need for regular feedback on the importance of actions taken by and contributions from the private sector. ¶2. (U) These contacts agreed that the Op-Ed would also serve as a useful lead-in to the March 15-16 Dutch-hosted international conference on terrorist financing. The conference, which was first announced last year (ref D),will include expert-to-expert level workshops with key high-level speakers on the subjects of greater cooperation between financial investigative authorities, improved communication between the public and private sector, and enhanced global development and implementation of effective counter-terrorist financing regimes. Econoff has emailed updated copies of the conference concept document and supporting materials to State (EB/ESC/TFS, EUR/ERA, EUR/PGI, EUR/UBI and S/CT) and Treasury (TFFC Poncy/Sarafini). ¶3. (SBU) In a recent conversation with the Charge, Finance Minister Zalm thanked the Embassy and Washington interagency for input and guidance over the last months in helping to shape the content of the conference and to ensure that it builds on existing international dialogues in this area. He noted that planning for the conference was progressing well. He hoped that Treasury Deputy Secretary Robert Kimmit would soon be able to confirm his attendance at the March event. BLAKEMAN