PAKISTANI NON-COMPLIANCE WITH AL-QAIDA SANCTIONS

S E C R E T USUN NEW YORK 000115 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/09/2017 TAGS: ETTC EFIN UNSC PREL KTFN PK SUBJECT: PAKISTANI NON-COMPLIANCE WITH AL-QAIDA SANCTIONS REF: A. 2006 ISLAMABAD 22000 ¶B. 2006 ISLAMABAD 22174 Classified By: Acting Permanent Representative, Ambassador Alejandro Wolff, for Reasons 1.4 (B and D) ¶1. (S) Ambassador Wolff told Pakistani PermRep Akram that the United States considers any alleged violations of the UN al-Qaida/Taliban sanctions regime to be a serious matter. The two ambassadors spoke on February 8 after Ambassador Akram, the previous day, raised with Ambassador Wolff a U.S. request for the UNSC 1267 (al-Qaida/Taliban) Committee to address possible Pakistani non-compliance with sanctions previously imposed by the Security Council on two Pakistani NGOs (REFTELS). (NOTE: As instructed, USUN raised concerns about Pakistani non-compliance with regard to Al Rashid and Al Akhtar Trusts in 1267 Committee meetings on January 29 and February 5. USUN requested the Committee Chairman to contact the Pakistani Permanent Mission to ask for clarification of the situation. The 1267 Committee has not decided yet on a course of action. END NOTE.) ¶2. (S) In his February 8 discussion, Ambassador Wolff underlined that we had made extensive but unsuccessful efforts to address concerns about Pakistani non-compliance through bilateral channels, and that our action in the 1267 Committee had been previewed in Islamabad. The U.S. request for the 1267 Committee to look into this matter should therefore not come as a surprise to Pakistan. ¶3. (S) Akram responded that his government wanted to work this issue out with us bilaterally, but stressed that Pakistan and the United States may have "different views" on the question of Pakistan's obligations as a member state to the requirements of UNSCR 1267. He claimed that Islamabad had frozen the funds of Al Rashid and Al Akhtar Trusts and in Pakistan's view is not obliged by the Security Council to do more. Ambassador Wolff reiterated that we had tried the bilateral route, to no avail, and that Pakistan could not get a pass on this matter. WOLFF