AMBASSADOR DAILEY MEETS WITH UN COUNTERTERRORISM

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000839

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2017
TAGS: PREL PTER UNSC UNGA
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR DAILEY MEETS WITH UN COUNTERTERRORISM
LEADERSHIP

Classified By: Carolyn Willson, Minister Counselor, for reasons 1.4 (b)
& (d).


1. (C) Begin summary and introduction: On September 28, U.S.
Ambassador-at-Large for Counterterrorism Dell Dailey met with
the United Nations' Counter Terrorism Implementation Task
Force Director Robert Orr; Counter Terrorism Committee Chair
Amb. Arias; UNSCR 1267 Committee Chair Amb. Verbeke, and 1267
Committee Monitoring Team Chair Richard Barrett to discuss
U.S. counterterrorism priorities for the UN. Orr thanked the
U.S. for funding working groups focused on combating
radicalization and improving critical infrastructure
protection; Arias questioned why the United States is
resistant to UN efforts to condemn the incitement of
terrorist acts; and Verbeke outlined his concerns and
recommendations for ensuring that UN terrorist sanctions
maintain political legitimacy. End summary and introduction.

UN Counter Terrorism Implementation Task Force



2. (C) UN Counter Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF)
Assistant Secretary General Robert Orr thanked U.S.
Ambassador-at-Large for Counterterrorism Dell Dailey for U.S.
funding of two of the nine working groups proposed to
implement the September 2006 UN General Assembly's Global
Counter Terrorism Strategy. The Bureau of International
Organization Affairs has pledged contributions totaling over
$400,000 to go toward funding working groups on
radicalization and the protection of vulnerable targets
(critical infrastructure),which will fund staffing,
workshops and travel expenses. S/CT is also in the process
of contributing funds for the vulnerable targets working
group. Orr said the United States moved the quickest of any
country, demonstrating a vote of confidence for the proposals
and answering some countries' concerns regarding U.S. support
for implementing UN General Assembly, and not just bilateral
or UN Security Council, counterterrorism priorities. Orr
said he still needed donors for all of the remaining working
groups, although countries have expressed interest in
supporting about half of the groups including human rights
and victims of terrorism.


3. (C) Dailey expressed the need for all UN members,
including the U.S., to mainstream counterterrorism efforts
and to focus on the underlying conditions that terrorists
exploit, noting that all parts of the UN, such as UNESCO and
UNDP have an important role to play in addressing
counterterrorism objectives. Orr said that in the past six
months the UN General Assembly has shown the "opposite of
backsliding" on counterterrorism. He said the UN's Global CT
Strategy was a major win, proving the General Assembly's, and
especially the Non-Aligned Movement's, broad support for the
first political coalition for counterterrorism. He
acknowledged useful regional developments by ASEAN, the
African Union, and the Council of Europe for utilizing the
Strategy, but noted the need for greater public awareness.


4. (C) Dailey shared that in his meeting with the Foreign
Ministers of the Arab Maghreb Union, the five North African
countries clamored for more U.S. support and cooperation on
counterterrorism. Orr noted Algeria's role as a key swing
voter in the UN and advised that Algeria continues to fear
that it could lose international support for its
counterterrorism efforts, as it did in 1993. Orr said that
Algeria's influence is greater in the UN than on the
international stage; he added that Morocco's influence is the
opposite, making any efforts to address Algeria and Morocco
together useful. Orr also noted Algeria's disproportionate
interest in its African Union Counterterrorism Center located
in Algiers and asked on behalf of Algeria for U.S. support of
this regional center. Dailey relayed U.S. policy toward
supporting all regional CT centers and said he would make
sure to support this center publicly in his outreach efforts.

UN Security Council Resolution 1373's Counter Terrorism
Committee (CTC)



5. (C) When questioned by Dailey, Panamanian Ambassador to
the UN and CTC Chairman Ricardo Arias said he was "not sure"
there is any overlap in UN efforts to address
counterterrorism. Arias explained that the CTC should remain
focused on policy and the UNSCR 1267 Committee should remain
focused on sanctions. Arias indicated he was not planning to
fulfill his second year as CTC Chairman and noted his
successor must be someone who wants the position, is neutral,
fair-balanced, and has the capacity to deal with experts.
Arias suggested Italy, Costa Rica or Belgium as good
possibilities and advised that the next Chairman should be
selected ahead of time to avoid any gaps. Because the
meeting took place prior to official announcement of


Australian Amb. Mike Smith's appointment as the new head of
the Counter Terrorism Committee's Executive Directorate
(CTED),Arias said that he heard Russia had stalled the
announcement because it wanted to ensure that the current
Deputy Executive Director Sergey Karev would remain in his
position. He noted the necessity of resolving the CTED
appointment quickly. Arias said he always looks for U.S.
assistance and guidance and asked why the United States is so
resistant to advance implementation of UNSCR 1624, which
concerns incitement of terrorist acts.

UN Security Council Resolution 1267 Committee



6. (C) Dailey thanked Belgian Ambassador to the UN and
Chairman of the UNSCR 1267 Committee Johan Verbeke for his
strong and skillful leadership and welcomed suggestions on
how to ensure other countries, aside from the United States,
propose new listings of individuals and entities that are
associated with Usama bin Laden, al-Qaida, or the Taliban.
Verbeke outlined his two main concerns regarding ensuring the
success of 1267 sanctions. First, Verbeke said that Russia's
resistance to delisting Taliban individuals is harming the
system's credibility and legitimacy, making countries with
legitimate cases no longer amenable to coming forward because
they view the process as a "blacklist." Second, Verbeke
stated that the legitimacy of procedures, which has improved
since UNSCR 1735 outlined the need to update the Taliban
portion of the Consolidated List, must ensure due process
rather than states' capricious wishes.


7. (C) Verbeke stated that in order for countries to remain
confident of the legitimacy of the 1267 Committee's al-Qaida
and Taliban sanctions lists, 3-5 delistings must be finalized
in the next 5-6 months. In addition, Verbeke said that the
implementation of measures to freeze assets, deny travel and
embargo arms of listed individuals and entities is essential,
but sensitive, because it involves finger pointing. Verbeke
referred to a recent meeting with Kenya, whose
representatives retorted that Kenya respects the rule of law,
but questioned the legitimacy of the 1267 sanctions, saying
they need a court order to impose such sanctions. Verbeke
said that this exercise showed that countries' compliance is
being hampered by lack of capacity and a reluctance to
implement sanctions because of concerns regarding legality
and legitimacy. Verbeke also referenced Qatar's flair for
drama as hampering new listings or delistings from moving
forward.


8. (C) UNSCR 1267 Monitoring Team Chair Richard Barrett said
that the 1267 sanctions are a potentially powerful tool that
provide the only operational mechanism for defining terrorism
in the United Nations. However, he added that there is a
problem with the limited profile of 1267's work, and said we
should endeavor to get the Iranians more interested in the
1267 process (he thinks engaging with the Iranians could
yield new al-Qa'ida listings) and should focus more on the
listing of Taliban drug offenders. Barrett said that most
governments see problems with the Al-Qaida and recognize the
difficulties the Taliban list causes for Afghanistan's
reconciliation efforts. Barrett reiterated the need for
Russian support to allow for the delisting of Taliban names,
even if the majority of those names have "Russian blood on
their hands." Dailey responded that he would ensure to
include his support for UN 1267 sanctions in his media
outreach and public diplomacy efforts. Dailey also told
Barrett that the U.S. supports the idea of enhanced regional
intelligence interaction and sharing of information.


9. (C) Barrett added that he will personally lead the CTITF's
radicalization working group and believed that Sweden would
be funding the working group focused on ensuring human rights
while countering terrorism. Barrett said he was also aware
of UNESCO and Southeast Asia's interest in addressing
terrorist use of the Internet by using measures such as
repentant terrorists providing broadcast messages at
madrassas with a UNESCO label about the human suffering and
pain caused by terrorism.


10. (U) This cable has been cleared by Amb. Dailey.
KHALILZAD