ALGERIA SEEKS SUPPORT FOR UN ACTION TO BAN RANSOM

S E C R E T ALGIERS 000764

SIPDIS

ADDIS ABABA FOR AU WATCHERS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2029
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV PINR PBTS UNGA AG ML MR NG US
SUBJECT: ALGERIA SEEKS SUPPORT FOR UN ACTION TO BAN RANSOM
PAYMENTS

REF: ALGIERS 740

Classified By: Ambassador David D. Pearce; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (S) SUMMARY: Algerian Presidential Counter Terrorism
Advisor, Kamel Rezag Bara, said August 12 that Algeria
sought U.S. support at the UN for an African Union initiative
to strengthen the international legal regime against
abductions, including a specific ban on ransom payments to
terrorist groups. He clarified that the resolution intended
to make payment of ransom to terrorists an international
crime. He told a visiting National Defense University
delegation that Algeria was interested in USG feedback on the
proposal and expressed interest in consulting with the U.S.
and other Perm Five missions in New York on next steps.
Rezag Bara indicated the Algerians want to ensure support for
their effort before advancing a draft, and would also preview
the proposal with the Nonaligned and African groups soon.
Rezag Bara said international cooperation was necessary to
combat the influence of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb
(AQIM),and he expected a Sahel heads of state summit to
convene in Mali within the next two to three months to
discuss practical regional coordination against the AQIM
threat. He said Algeria and the U.S. shared a common view of
terrorism and welcomed stepped-up political engagement,
technical assistance, and economic cooperation. Rezag Bara
said the U.S. and others in the international community
should help Sahel countries in the region regain stability
and assist them in confronting terrorism via information and
technical assistance but not try to do the job for them. END
SUMMARY.

STEADY ENGAGEMENT NEEDED FOR MIL-MIL EXPANSION
-------------- -


2. (C) Algerian Presidential Counter Terrorism Advisor Kamel
Rezag Bara briefed a visiting Capstone delegation of recently
promoted U.S. admirals and generals August 12 on Algeria's
counterterrorism (CT) efforts and approach to bilateral and
multilateral CT cooperation. Immediately following 9/11,
Rezag Bara said, President Bouteflika established a
cabinet-level CT coordination group to evaluate and implement
the recommendations contained in UN Security Council
Resolution (UNSCR) 1373 as well as to assess Algeria's CT
cooperation with the international community. The group
includes officials of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the
Minister of Justice, the security services, the Ministry of
Interior, and the Finance Ministry. This step, he said, led
to informal bilateral agreements to improve cooperation and
efforts to secure Africa's commitment to combating terrorism,
such as the 1999 adoption in Algiers of the OAU convention on
preventing and combating terrorism. The African Center for
the Research and Study of Terrorism (CAERT),which has
collaborated with U.S. universities and the National Defense
University, was a direct outcome of the OAU convention, he
added.


3. (C) Rezag Bara remarked that the international community
at first considered Algeria's struggle with terrorism in
the 1990s an internal matter and only slowly came to
understand the transnational link to jihadist fighters
returning from Afghanistan at the end of the Soviet conflict.
"Thanks to Algeria's military, police, and citizens," he
said," we defeated terrorism militarily, politically,
strategically, and morally." Bouteflika's national
reconciliation charter further succeeded in conveying the
message that Islam is not compatible with terrorism. Rezag
Bara acknowledged, however, that al-Qaida in the Islamic
Maghreb (AQIM) had established "some" presence in Algeria and
was spreading in the northern Sahel region and Mauritania.
Rezag Bara noted international cooperation was needed to
combat AQIM and previewed plans for a regional heads of state
summit in Mali, most likely within the next two to three
months, to prepare an operational plan to fight AQIM.


4. (S) Rezag Bara told the Capstone audience that Algeria and
the U.S. shared the same view of terrorism and the
means necessary to combat it, despite some disagreements on
Middle East policy. Asked how to improve mil-mil
cooperation, Rezag Bara noted that for cooperation to work,
both sides need to understand each other. At the political
level, this meant more direct engagement and opportunities to
talk and share ideas. "This visit is an example of the type
of political engagement we need," he said. There was a
further need for more technical cooperation, he continued,
citing Algeria's interest in more sophisticated IED
countermeasures. Rezag Bara also identified increased
intelligence sharing, joint mil-mil activities, and closer
economic ties outside of the hydrocarbon sector as other key
areas of technical cooperation.


REINFORCING THE MESSAGE ON RANSOM PAYMENTS
--------------


5. (C) Rezag Bara said Algeria sought support at the UN,
either in the Security Council or General Assembly, for an
African Union initiative that would strengthen the
international legal regime against terrorist abductions, and
specifically impose a ban on the payment of ransoms to
terrorist groups, i.e., to make it an international crime to
pay ransom to terrorists. He underscored Algeria's wish for
U.S. support in this effort (reftel).


6. (C) Rezag Bara's deputy, Ambassador Ayadi, told Capstone
that UNSCR 1373 had greatly limited terrorist organizations'
ability to exploit the global financial system, forcing
groups like AQIM to return to more primitive activities, like
kidnapping, to fund operations. This trend, Ayadi stressed,
threatened international security, particularly Somalia and
the northern Sahel region. Recent kidnappings in northern
Mali, he added, have demonstrated that paying ransoms only
encourages terrorists to take more hostages. He noted that
international law did not specifically address ransom
payments. "For this reason, we want the international
community to consider a legal instrument that supports
existing laws to combat terrorist finance and specifically
bans the payment of ransoms to terrorist groups," he said. A
ban on ransoms, Ayadi argued, would give states the political
cover they need to refuse ransom demands.


7. (C) Ayadi said Algeria's mission in New York planned to
consult with Nonaligned Movement and Africa Group missions
before presenting a text. Rezag Bara told Ambassador
afterwards that the Algerian mission in New York would also
likely consult the U.S. and other Perm Five missions on the
initiative. He was particularly interested in U.S. views on
how best to shape the initiative to maximize the chances for
success, whether in the Security Council or the General
Assembly.

CAIRO AND GHANA MESSAGE ON THE RIGHT TRACK
--------------


8. (C) Rezag Bara said President Obama used the right words
in Cairo and Accra to express the U.S. commitment to
better understanding the region. He urged the U.S. to use
its influence as a stabilizing factor and regretted that
some U.S. actions in recent years had complicated problems.
Upholding the rule of law, including international law, was
the best way to establish legitimacy in the fight against
terrorism. Rezag Bara said the holding of enemy combatants
at Guantanamo, 26 of whom were Algerian, was not consistent
with Algeria's vision of the U.S. It was necessary for U.S.
policy on Guantanamo to be corrected to restore America's
image. Rezag Bara also told the delegation that it would be
important for the U.S. to strike a clear and fair balance in
promoting a two-state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian
conflict, one that would benefit both sides.


9. (S) COMMENT: At the outset of the meeting, Rezag Bara
emphasized that President Bouteflika was aware of the
Capstone program and conveyed Bouteflika's appreciation for
the visit to Algeria. Rezag Bara assembled representatives
from the ministries of defense, justice, and foreign affairs,
as well as the Algerian military intelligence service, and
clearly viewed the meeting as an opportunity to reiterate the
scope of our bilateral CT cooperation. While expressing a
desire for deeper mil-mil cooperation, Rezag Bara emphasized
technical and intelligence cooperation and avoided discussion
of joint exercises on Algerian territory and U.S.
participation in regional security operations. Asked how the
U.S. could help CT efforts in the Sahel beyond Algeria's
borders, Rezag Bara replied, "The U.S. needs to help
countries regain stability, but you need to help us do it
ourselves, don't do it for us."

PEARCE