NATO BRIEFS UN SECURITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001002 SENSITIVE SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D COPY (PARA 3 MARKING) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER UNGA PREL PGOV SUBJECT: NATO BRIEFS UN SECURITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON COUNTER TERRORISM ACTIVITIES ¶1. (U) At a Counter-terrorism Committee (CTC) meeting, October 30, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy Martin Erdmann told SC members that NATO is taking a concrete and practical approach to countering terrorism. He reported that coordination of NATO members military capabilities is only a small segment of the activities undertaken by NATO to counter terrorism. Erdmann said that NATO's overarching counter-terrorism strategy incorporates political, economic, legal, military and social elements of the problem. The fight against terrorism is not mainly a military task but primarily a civilian task which must engage all of these elements. ¶2. (U) Erdmann told the Committee that in addition to NATO's 26 members and two states which will join (Albania and Croatia) NATO has a dialogue with countries in North Africa and Gulf states of Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE. Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Korea also have a special relationship with NATO on CT issues. He said that non-military activities include intelligence sharing and focus on strategic and non-military analysis. A civil emergency action plan is an important component of NATO's strategy. NATO is currently engaged in civil emergency action planning to provide rapid reaction in case of an attack using chemical biological or nuclear weapons. ¶3. (SBU) NATO is also looking at ways to utilize technology to confront new challenges such as MANPADS, which pose a severe threat to aviation. Technology is also being used to protect harbors and ships, detect chemical weapons and counter car and roadside bombings. They are also developing a model situation center to counter eco-terrorism. He noted that the Mediterranean is the safest sea (as measured by insurance rates). Erdmann also described the International Security Assistance Force's (ISAF) mission in Afghanistan which is working to eliminate "safe havens" for terrorists. He said that in Afghanistan NATO is using the comprehensive approach (political, economic, legal, etc.) Security is an important factor. This is linked to poverty and lack of infrastructure, so these elements must be addressed. NATO provides security for those building roads and power plants as part of infrastructure renewal. NATO also wants to contribute to the fight against piracy, through the Security Council's resolutions, by protecting the security of the region around Somalia. ¶4. (U) Erdmann asked, "How can we assist the UN in capacity building?" We invite states to use the Ankara Center which provides practical training. He also referred to NATO's cyber defense program and their computer emergency response teams. Comment: This presentation was very well received by the Committee which seemed to be impressed with the energetic, well organized and pragmatic approach which NATO is taking in its counter-terrorism program. End Comment Khalilzad