SPAIN TO STUDY EU CO-FUNDING OF ALGERIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 001103 SIPDIS STATE FOR ISN/CB DAVE WEEKMAN DEPT ALSO PASS TO ISN/CTR BETH CAMERON AND CARSON KUO E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2019 TAGS: PARM PREL CWC SP SUBJECT: SPAIN TO STUDY EU CO-FUNDING OF ALGERIAN COUNTERTERRORISM CONFERENCE REF: SECSTATE 116290 Classified By: ADCM William H. Duncan for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Informed of Ref events, MFA officials are looking into whether Madrid will support the allocation of EU funds to help defray some of the costs of Algeria hosting a chemical terrorism conference in Spring 2010, when Spain will hold the rotating EU Presidency. MFA contacts have indicated that they will conduct outreach both within the Spanish government and among EU partners. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) POLOFF on November 16 delivered Ref demarche to Luis Gomez Nogueira, the MFA's resident expert on Chemical Weapons who works in the MFA's sub-DG for Non-Proliferation and Disarmament. Gomez Nogueira said Spain would reach out to the EU to determine if there were pre-existing budgets on counter-terrorism or chemical arms issues that had been allotted for periods of time that extended beyond a single country's EU Presidency. He also stated that the demarche had come at a good time: his supervisor, Gonzalo de Salazar, the Sub-Director General for Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, will travel to Brussels on November 23 for discussions on EU Presidency issues related to his portfolio. Gomez Nogueira will prepare a report for Salazar on this issue in advance of that meeting. Gomez Nogueira also indicated that the MFA will raise the issue to Spain's National Authority for the Prohibition of Chemical Arms, an inter-ministerial forum led by Spain's Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce. ¶3. (C) POLOFF double-tracked the demarche to Iago Losada, Technical Adviser in the MFA's sub-Directorate General (sub-DG) for International Terrorism Affairs, and Inigo Febrel, Desk Officer for International Terrorism Affairs, on November 12. Losada replied that Spain was familiar with the event's prospective host, the African Center for the Study of Research Against Terrorism (CAERT). He added that the Spanish MFA organized an event with CAERT in Spring 2009 which focused on combating terrorism in the Sahel, Maghreb, and ECOWAS countries. Losada suggested that the proposed 2010 conference sounded very similar, albeit focused solely on chemical terrorism and perhaps focused on a broader African audience. Losada asked if the EU would be able to send a delegation to attend the conference. POLOFF replied that, while the conference tentatively was being focused on African participation, the EU would likely be able to have a small delegation attend. Losada said that his office would be in touch with Gomez Nogueira to discuss the issue. CHACON