CHAIRMEN OF 1267, COUNTER-TERRORISM, AND 1540

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001042 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL UNSC PTER SUBJECT: CHAIRMEN OF 1267, COUNTER-TERRORISM, AND 1540 COMMITTEES BRIEF SECURITY COUNCIL ¶1. The Chairmen of the UN Security Council's 1267 (Al-Qaida/Taliban) Sanctions Committee, Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC),and 1540 Committee on nonproliferation briefed the Council in a public meeting on November 14, 2007, in the eighth such meeting of its kind. The Chairmen, Ambassador Verbeke of Belgium (1267 Committee),Ambassador Arias of Panama (CTC),and Ambassador Burian of Slovakia (1540 Committee),described their committees' accomplishments over the past six months and outlined their future plans. Ambassador Verbeke also delivered a joint statement on behalf of the three Chairmen (but not the committees) concerning the cooperation among the three committees. The Chairmen did not speak in their national capacities, but all other Council members made statements. Cuba, Liechtenstein (also on behalf of Switzerland),Venezuela, Australia, Canada, and Portugal (on behalf of the European Union) also spoke. ¶2. Common themes included: updating the 1267 Committee's consolidated sanctions list and basing the 1267 sanctions regime on clearer procedures for listing, de-listing, and humanitarian exemptions; welcoming the appointment of Ambassador Mike Smith (Australia) as the new Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee's Executive Directorate (CTED); calling on states to report to the 1540 Committee, including to respond to the Committee's latest request for information; continuing outreach activities to promote implementation of UNSCR 1540 (2004); and promoting the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. Many countries also raised the issue of the CTED mandate, which expires on December 31 under UNSCR 1535 (2004). Ghana and China expressed explicit support for extending the CTED's mandate, while Qatar suggested "thinking seriously about the feasibility of the continued existence of the CTED and its possible integration in the (UN Secretariat's Counter-Terrorism Strategy Implementation) Task Force, in order to ensure overall coordination and consistency in the counter-terrorism efforts of the United Nations system." South Africa also recommended considering the appropriateness of addressing technical assistance issues through subsidiary bodies of the Security Council. South Africa also said (as it has before) that resolution 1540 is a "limited and selective instrument that limits only proliferation by non-state actors" and cannot be used to discourage proliferation by and to states. ¶3. As in previous open meetings, Cuba and Venezuela accused the United States of failing to comply with its obligations under counter-terrorism resolutions and conventions by providing safe haven to Luis Posada Carriles (Cuban statement emailed to IO). Drawing on the Department's guidance, Ambassador Wolcott responded by providing an update of recent actions taken by the U.S., consistent with both international law and U.S. domestic legal requirements, with respect to Posada. In rebuttal, the Cuban representative posed a series of rhetorical questions, including why the U.S. allowed Posada to enter its territory, why Posada was only charged with simple immigration violations, and why the U.S. overlooked Venezuela's extradition request. The Venezuelan representative also made a further statement to emphasize the validity of its extradition request and to urge the Security Council to take appropriate action. ¶4. A verbatim transcript of the meeting can be found at http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N07/59 7/86/PDF/N0759786.pd f. Khalilzad