NIGER: COUNTER-TERRORISM COMMITTEE EXECUTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NIAMEY 000198 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PREL NG SUBJECT: NIGER: COUNTER-TERRORISM COMMITTEE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORATE VISIT REF: NIAMEY 97 ¶1. (U) A U.N. Counter-terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) team led by Mike Smith on February 13 briefed diplomats on their visit to Niger. The meeting was under the auspices of the Counter-Terrorism Action Group (CTAG) and was hosted by the French Embassy on behalf of G-8 president Japan. The CTED team included representatives of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODI),the World Customs Organization (WCO),Interpol and the African Union Center for the Research and Study of Terrorism (ACSRT). Niamey-based diplomats included representatives of the French, German, Spanish, Canadian and U.S. Embassies, the UNDP resident representative and the EC delegate. An official from the Japanese Embassy in Abidjan also attended the meeting. ¶2. (U) The French Ambassador, who chaired the meeting, noted that the last CTAG meeting in Niamey was in April 2006 under the Russian G-8 presidency. ¶3. (SBU) CTED executive director Smith provided an overview of CTED. He explained that its mandate was to monitor implementation of UNSC resolution 1373. It initially met resistance from many developing countries, who complained that it identified weakness, but did not provide assistance to address those weaknesses. It therefore works to try to link developing country CT needs with G-8 resources. The objective of the CTED visit to Niger is to analyze Government of Niger (GON) obligations under UNSCR 1373, assess its capacity to meet those obligations, and identify sources of assistance for the GON. Smith and other CTED team members reviewed their initial findings: -- There are gaps in GON CT laws and regulation. -- The GON has only ratified 10 of the 16 international CT instruments. -- The GON office responsible for money laundering has virtually no resources. -- The GON does not have a good system to track people entering and exiting the country. -- There are gaps in aviation security. -- Separate Customs and Police checkpoints are not efficient. -- There are flaws in the civil registry which facilitate the fraudulent obtention of civil documents. -- The police lack training and resources. -- The GON's CT structure is unclear. ¶4. (SBU) The diplomats reviewed their CT cooperation activities. The French are by far the most active. Their CT assistance includes: -- General GON institution building, which has an indirect effect on CT. -- Military cooperation. There are 16 French military personnel working with the Nigerien military. France sends Nigerien military personnel to France and elsewhere for training. France also provides about one million euros in financing. France is helping with transportation and communications, and built an operations center in Niamey. The French DATT said the Nigerien military was generally professional and well motivated, but lacked resources and suffered from corruption ("affairisme"). -- Police Cooperation. France supports the Police, the NIAMEY 00000198 002 OF 002 Gendarmerie, the FNIS (a paramilitary force under the Interior Ministry),and the fire department. It has provided training on crises management, explosives detection and established a joint command post. With EU funding, France is working on a computerizing systems to track people and goods, developing a police laboratory, assisting with immigration and trafficking in persons, and providing intelligence collection and analysis training. ¶5. (SBU) Assistance provided by other countries included military assistance (U.S.),police assistance (U.S., Germany, Canada, EU),judicial sector reform (EU),and immigration (EU). Several countries also cited general governance/institution building programs. ¶6. (SBU) In response to Smith's question about coordination on police cooperation, the French police advisor said that while there is no formal structure to coordinate assistance to the police, he was generally aware of what everyone is doing. He believed that there is so much to do regarding the police that the risk of duplication was minimal. The German DCM said that his government was developing a security sector plan and would coordinate with the French. (Comment: Programs to assist the police are important. It is therefore unfortunate that our effective NADR/ATA program has been zeroed out for FY2008 and 2009. End Comment.) ¶7. (SBU) The French Ambassador highlighted the gap between needs and resources, but noted that countries not represented in the meeting were also involved in security-related activities, notably China, Libya and some Arab gulf countries. He said that the activities by these countries was not "transparent." ¶8. (SBU) There was some discussion of how general governance programs could be tied to CT. The French and Canadian officials thought good governance was essential for CT. The EC representative said that some governance problems could be more focused on CT issues. ¶9. (SBU) A French representative noted that European Development Funds are limited to assistance to the police, and could not be used to assist the army. ¶10. (U) Tripoli minimize considered ALLEN