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