BELGIAN INTERIOR MINISTER PUSHING FOR EXPANDED

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 000122

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2013
TAGS: PINS PTER BE
SUBJECT: BELGIAN INTERIOR MINISTER PUSHING FOR EXPANDED
SECURITY SERVICE AUTHORITY

Classified By: Ambassador Sam Fox, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: During a one-on-one lunch held January 17,
2008, Belgian Interior Minister Dewael told the Ambassador he
would press for passage of new legislation that would expand
the authority of the country's intelligence services to use
"special investigative techniques" like wiretaps. Law
enforcement agencies now have such authority, which they can
exercise only in connection with an active criminal case, and
with a magistrate's permission. Dewael praised USG
cooperation with Belgium on counter-terrorism issues,
pledging to resolve any difficulties brought to his
attention. He praised USG support for the Belgian
authorities in connection with the anti-terrorism alert
started on December 21, 2007. End summary


2. (SBU) Patrick Dewael, who became Interior Minister after
the 2004 regional elections, is one of the "holdover"
ministers in the current interim government. A Limburger, he
is a generational and professional contemporary of Prime
Minister Verhofstadt. Once Verhofstadt leaves the Prime
Ministership on March 23, local observers expect Dewael to
exercise an even larger leadership role in the Flemish
Liberal Party (Open VLD). He and the Ambassador met on
January 17 to discuss counter-terrorism issues and the
current political scene. Septel will cover the continuing
effort to put together the post-March 23 government.


3. (C) The Ambassador asked Dewael specifically to comment on
his future plans for strengthening Belgium's ability to fight
terrorism. Dewael welcomed the question, noting that it was
important to increase Belgian capabilities on both the law
enforcement and intelligence collection side of the ledger.
He said his priority was to help ease restrictions on the
domestic activities of Belgium's security services, notably
by making it possible for the intelligence agencies to use
wiretaps on domestic targets in connection with intelligence
cases. At present, only law enforcement agencies can use
wiretaps, break into private residences to plant listening
devices, or permit informants to commit minor crimes as part
of ongoing investigations. The security service is seeking a
similar authority to act without tying intelligence
collection to an ongoing criminal investigation.


4. (C) To bring about change, Dewael said he was working to
secure passage of legislation before the interim government
ended its term, which was now scheduled for March 23. The
previous government had introduced a similar bill, but it
proved impossible to get the measure through Parliament
before the last election in June 2007. The Ambassador
welcomed this news, adding that the lack of such authority
was worrisome to the U.S. The limited capability of Belgian
services has created, he argued, a potential vulnerability
that terrorists certainly would seek to exploit. The
Minister agreed, arguing that recent developments like the
December 21 alert had increased public awareness of the
threat.


5. (SBU) Dewael was scathing in his criticism of those who
had attacked the decision to impose a higher level of
security on December 21. He said he looked forward to an
investigation of the matter by the joint parliamentary
committees on Intelligence and the Police. U.S. support
prior to and after December 21 had been crucial in informing
the Belgian government's decision making process.


6. (U) The meeting closed with Dewael pledging to help the
Embassy in any way he could. He urged us to remain in touch
with him and with his key staff, which had not changed during
the government transition. Fox
.