UN AND CT: DENMARK, BELGIUM, ARGENTINA SHARE VIEWS

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001930 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR IO/PSC:JSANDAGE AND S/CT:KCHANDLER/MNORMAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER UNSC PREL KNNP KTFN SUBJECT: UN AND CT: DENMARK, BELGIUM, ARGENTINA SHARE VIEWS WITH AMB. CRUMPTON REF: USUN 1436 ¶1. (SBU) BEGIN SUMMARY: In meetings on the margins of the UN General Assembly, Counterterrorism Coordinator Ambassador Crumpton exchanged views on how to invigorate the UN's counterterrorism efforts with Ambassador Ellen Loj, Danish PermRep and Chairman of the UN Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC); Ambassador Cesar Mayoral, Argentine PermRep and Chairman of the UN Security Council's 1267 Committee; and Ambassador Johan Verbeke, Belgian PermRep. Loj, who leaves the Council at the end of December, expressed frustration that the CTC had not yet achieved concrete results in enhancing states' implementation of UNSCR 1373 and asked for a clearer sense of USG objectives for the committee. Verbeke, who will join the Council in January, said Belgium did not have the resources available to chair the CTC but promised to consult again with the Foreign Minister. He also sought U.S. assistance for Belgium's request that the 1267 Committee de-list Nabil Sayadi and Patricia Vinck. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) At a September 22 meeting with Danish PermRep and CTC Chairman Loj, Ambassador Crumpton thanked Ambassador Loj for her leadership, and the two discussed the CTC's future. Among other things, they agreed on the need for a strong successor. ¶3. (SBU) Ambassador Loj expressed frustration that states' commitment to UNSCR 1373 has dwindled since 2001 and that the CTC has not accomplished concrete results. In order to convince states to commit more resources to combating terrorism, the CTC must show that it makes a difference, she argued. Doing so requires positive engagement. She noted that most UNSC resolutions are focused on sanctions, whereas UNSCR 1373 focuses on positive engagement. The CTC should be seen as a positive force to "monitor" implementation of 1373, not to "evaluate" or "judge" their compliance, she said. As an example of states' suspicions of the CTC, she complained that states often do not welcome CTED teams because they see visits of the Counter-Terrorism Committee's Executive Directorate (CTED) as punitive. The CTC must help states understand that they should welcome a CTED visit as an opportunity for gaining assistance in implementing UNSCR 1373 and for demonstrating what states have done to implement the resolution. The CTC should use CTED's visits to develop contacts and relationships with member states, promoting positive interaction and greater effectiveness in a way that letter writing and reporting cannot. In that vein, Ambassador Loj also expressed concern that the CTC was turning into a "paper mill," overly focused on writing letters back and forth to states. ¶4. (SBU) In particular, Ambassador Loj expressed frustration that she did not have a clear view of the USG's goals for the CTC and cited the appeal she made at her July 28 meeting with Ambassadors Bolton, Wolff, and Sanders (reftel). She stressed the need for her as Chairman to understand the direction that the U.S., the UK, and France want to pursue in the CTC and the UN. Ambassador Crumpton promised to follow up to give her a better sense of the USG's priorities. ¶5. (SBU) Ambassador Crumpton emphasized the importance of using economic power to replace terrorist safe havens through positive influences and economic development and suggested the CTC should coordinate its work more closely with that of the UN Development Program or other similar mechanisms. Ambassador Loj acknowledged the CTC's efforts to form those links, but said the development community resists having their work tied into counterterrorism. Ambassador DeVries faces this same challenge with the EU, she said. Ambassador Loj said that the CTC first must have "positive" discussion with member states to convince them to request assistance to close the gaps in their implementation of UNSCR 1373. The CTC has looked to the G-8's Counter-Terrorism Action Group (CTAG) to meet needs, but Ambassador Loj said CTAG either needs to do a better job of delivering assistance or the CTC needs to look to other donors. ¶6. (SBU) In response to Ambassador Crumpton's question, Ambassador Loj suggested that the United States and Denmark, including through the CTC, should focus on enhancing counterterrorism efforts in three countries: the Philippines, Afghanistan, and Kenya. (Note: CTED visited Kenya in May 2005 and visited the Philippines in September 2006.) Crumpton noted the particular urgency of Afghanistan and commented that partners in the Gulf (aside from the United Arab Emirates) had done little to help Afghanistan, and expressed concern that the situation will only get worse with the money from this year's poppy crop. Ambassador Crumpton agreed to follow up with Ambassador Neuman and Ambassador Ranneberger to solicit their views on CTED work in Afghanistan and Kenya. ¶7. (SBU) On September 20, Belgian PermRep Johan Verbeke shared Belgium's views on the UN's counterterrorism efforts with Ambassador Crumpton, calling the 1267 Committee and the CTC the most concrete and promising of those initiatives. Ambassador Verbeke called the UN General Assembly's recent debate over the UN comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy "more form than substance" and said continuing the negotiations on the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism would not necessarily be productive. While emphasizing that Belgium wants to keep a low profile in discussing its plans for joining the Security Council, he said Belgium plans to assume "full responsibility" in these committees. Although he stressed Belgium's commitment to the CTC, Belgium does not have the resources to devote to chairing the CTC, which requires allocating two full-time employees to the issue, he said. Ambassador Crumpton questioned Belgium's commitment to countering terrorism, saying that both Italy and Belgium had an opportunity to assert leadership on counterterrorism by chairing the CTC. In response, Ambassador Verbeke agreed to raise the issue again with Brussels. ¶8. (SBU) Comment: The Italian Mission's officer who handles terrorism has told USUN's deputy legal officer that Italy, which is the other European state joining the Council in 2007, is still considering whether it wants to assume the CTC chairmanship. Italy, like Belgium, has expressed reservations about the need to devote two full-time staff members to the CTC. Both Italy and Belgium are basing their assessment of resource needs on the Danish example; Denmark has devoted more than two full-time staff members to the CTC during its Council tenure. Although Denmark's commitment has been significant, its hands-on approach has led to friction with CTED, which has resisted what it sees as Danish efforts to micro-manage them. Since one of the key reasons for funding CTED with more than 30 staff members was to alleviate the burden on the CTC members, it might not be necessary for the next chairman's delegation to devote as many of his or her own staff to managing CTED and the CTC's work. End Comment. ¶9. (SBU) At the end of the meeting, Ambassador Verbeke asked for U.S. assistance in reviewing Belgium's request for the 1267 Committee to de-list Nabil Sayadi and Patricia Vinck. He explained that the Belgian government had presented Sayadi and Vinck's names to the Committee for listing but after a judicial review, the government concluded that the grounds on which it sought their listing "were not sound." Ambassador Verbeke noted that strong press and public interest in Belgium in the Sayadi/Vinck matter. Ambassador Crumpton agreed to follow up on the matter. (Note: Following the meeting, USUN's 1267 expert met with the Belgian Mission to discuss the Sayadi/Vinck matter. We emphasized the distinction between a criminal process, which relies on one set of evidentiary standards, and a sanctions process, which is political rather than judicial in nature, and relies on another set of criteria. We also reiterated our suggestion that Sayadi/Vinck consider petitioning OFAC directly. The Belgian Mission agreed with our suggestion and pledged to recommend it to Brussels. End Note.) ¶10. (SBU) Ambassador Verbeke then offered broader views on the 1267 Committee's de-listing process. He acknowledged that European states take a more "legalistic" approach to the 1267 sanctions regime and that such an approach might not be appropriate, but said European public opinion demanded it. Ambassador Verbeke said the credibility of the 1267 sanctions regime will be enhanced if the Committee allows listed individuals the opportunity to get off the list, and said proceeding with a few de-listings would send "an important signal." Ambassador Crumpton emphasized that the sanctions regime should aim to change behavior and said the Committee needs to be more dynamic in terms of de-listing. ¶11. (SBU) On September 22, Ambassador Crumpton met with the chairman of the 1267 Committee on al-Qaida and the Taliban, Argentina's PermRep Cesar Mayoral. Ambassador Crumpton thanked Chairman Mayoral for his leadership and noted the committee's progress freezing terrorist assets. Mayoral will be making another trip overseas in early November to promote implementation of the sanctions, and Ambassador Crumpton expressed support for the idea of including a visit to South Africa. ¶12. (SBU) Chairman Mayoral asked for Ambassador Crumpton's assistance to extend the contracts of the 1267 Monitoring Team. Ambassador Crumpton agreed to do what he could to advance this goal. They also discussed the value of the meetings between the Monitoring Team and the heads of regional intel and security services. The last report emphasized the growing presence of al-Qaida in the Sahel and Sahara region, and they exchanged views on what can be done to counter it. Ambassador Crumpton briefed Mayoral on his recent discussions with Interpol Secretary General Ron Noble and expressed interest in seeing how Interpol and the 1267 Sanctions Committee could improve their effectiveness through information sharing. BOLTON