COUNTER-TERRORISM: DCM'S OCTOBER 25 CONVERSATION

S E C R E T MADRID 002035 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR S/CT - AMBASSADOR DAILEY, ALSO FOR INL - AA/S SCHWEICH AND EUR/WE USSOUTHCOM FOR COMMANDER E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2017 TAGS: PREL PTER SNAR SP SUBJECT: COUNTER-TERRORISM: DCM'S OCTOBER 25 CONVERSATION WITH SPANISH SECRETARY OF STATE FOR SECURITY CAMACHO REF: A. MADRID 2018 ¶B. MADRID 1993 ¶C. MADRID 2021 Classified By: DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION HUGO LLORENS, REASONS 1.4B AND D . ¶1. (S) DCM met October 25 with Spanish Secretary of State for Security Antonio Camacho and congratulated him on the Guardia Civil's October 23 arrest in Burgos of six suspected Islamic terrorists from the self-proclaimed "al-Ansar" group. The six are accused of fund raising, recruiting terrorists to fight in Iraq, and spreading jihadist propaganda. The Spanish benefited from information provided by the U.S. (a fact they acknowledged publicly). Camacho expressed his gratitude for the U.S. cooperation in the case, and agreed with the DCM that the U.S. and Spain must do everything possible to intensify joint efforts against terrorism. Camacho said Spain and the U.S. were the two nations that "got it" when it came to terrorism. He said the same was true to some extent of the UK and France, but he lamented the Germans still seemed less than fully attuned to the threat from al-Qaeda. Camacho noted that Spain had some 300 Islamic extremists in jail and dozens more cases under investigation. He said al-Qaeda was increasing activities in North Africa and could hit Europe at any time. ¶2. (S) The DCM underscored the importance of implementation of the HSPD-6 protocol signed September 17 which will facilitate information-sharing between the U.S. Terrorist Screening Center and the Spanish National Coordination Center for Anti-terrorism (CNCA). Camacho agreed the protocol was a huge step forward and affirmed that Spain was fully committed to making it work. He stressed that "real-time cooperation" must always be the goal. He mentioned that he was meeting with the Guardia Civil leadership later that day and would be emphasizing the same thing to them. The DCM mentioned the recent visit of Ambassador Dailey (ref a) and offered the Embassy's assistance in following up on the various initiatives discussed at that time including any concrete proposals for cooperation regarding the threat from North Africa (Camacho told Ambassador Dailey September 21 that Spain saw a role for the U.S. regarding European regional CT initiatives in the Mediterranean). The DCM also noted that the Islamic radicalization conference being hosted by Denmark in late November dovetailed nicely with the November 6-8 conference being hosted in Madrid by the Ortega y Gasset Foundation and in which Camacho was scheduled to participate. ¶3. (C) Continuing the theme of bilateral cooperation, the DCM briefed Camacho on the recent visits of the Commander USSOUTHCOM (ref b) and INL AA/S Schweich (ref c). Camacho was very pleased to hear about their discussions with Spanish authorities. He was also enthusiastic about USSOUTHCOM's invitation to Maria Marcos Salvador, the Director of the Intelligence Center Against Organized Crime (CICO),to visit Miami to continue conversations regarding opportunities to enhance U.S.-Spanish cooperation against threats such as narco-terrorism emanating from Latin America. ¶4. (S) Camacho mentioned his concern over a radio direction finding substation allegedly installed in Guinea-Bissau near the border with Senegal with help from the Cubans. He said the issue needed close watching (Note: This has been reported in other USG channels. End note). AGUIRRE