TERRORISM FINANCE MANILA UPDATE JANUARY 2008

S E C R E T MANILA 000207 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2028 TAGS: RP KTFN EFIN PTER PREL ETTC SUBJECT: TERRORISM FINANCE MANILA UPDATE JANUARY 2008 REF: A. SECSTATE 6142 ¶B. SECSTATE 7443 Classified By: Acting Econ Counselor Tim Neely, reasons 1.4 b,c,d ¶1. (S) Legatt and Econ officers met with Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Vicente Aquino on January 25 to discuss terror finance issues raised in ref A related to Rajah Solaiman Movement listing by the UN 1267 Committee, and to deliver the talking points and background paper on the three Kuwait-based terror facilitators from ref B. ¶2. (S) Aquino appreciated our congratulations on completing the Statement of Case for submission to the UN and welcomed the news that USG agencies were now ready to support the UN 1267 listing. He said the AMLC was ready to move on freezing funds and seizing financial records as soon as the designation was approved by the 1267 Committee. He explained that the reason RSM member Mariano Lomaro was dropped from the designation package was the difficulty proving the same person had used the several different aliases found in the documents. We separately relayed ref A congratulations to the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency. ¶3. (S) Aquino said they would search for records of financial records involving the individuals named in ref B and inform us if any such records were found. Aquino also mentioned that his appointment as AMLC Executive Director has been extended for another five years. KENNEY