TALKING POINTS FOR BRIEFING OF UN SECURITY

UNCLAS STATE 059966 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PREL UNSC KTFM EFIN SUBJECT: TALKING POINTS FOR BRIEFING OF UN SECURITY COUNCIL ON THE PROGRESS OF THE COUNTERTERRORISM COMMITTEE'S COUNTERTERRORISM EXECUTIVE DIRECTORATE'S (CTED) WORK ¶1. USUN should draw on the talking points in para 3 during the June 11 briefing to the UN Security Council (UNSC) on the progress of the Counterterrorism Committee's (CTC) Counterterrorism Executive Directorate's (CTED) work. BACKGROUND ¶2. The briefing will be made pursuant to UNSCR 1805, which renewed CTED's mandate through December 31, 2011, and called for the Security Council to review by June 30, 2009, CTED's work. ¶3. Begin Talking Points - Thank Mike Smith for the excellent work he has done since taking over as CTED Executive Director in October 2007. - Praise Smith for ensuring CTED country visits are more focused, and that the subsequent trip reports provide a more thorough and detailed picture of key issues impacting Member States' implementation of 1373 and subsequent resolutions. - Recognize Smith's efforts to conduct regional visits to examine key regional challenges to implementing obligations imposed under this regime. - Appreciate, also, CTED's efforts to visit more donor countries and encourage Smith and his team to further enhance efforts to engage with states already active in building counterterrorism capacity building activities in order to facilitate efforts to match donor assistance to needs. - Note with appreciation the excellent results of Smith's efforts to develop expertise among CTED experts by reorganizing CTED into cross-cutting technical and geographic groups to harmonize the approaches and judgments of CTED experts. - Commend CTED's efforts to assess Member States' implementation of UNSCR 1373 and subsequent resolutions, and encourage the Counterterrorism Committee (CTC) to focus not only on assisting states' efforts to enhance implementation, but also to assess instances where a member state's lack of political will -- and not capacity -- is a problem. CTC efforts, in general, should deal more regularly with issues of non-compliance. - Look forward to CTED's updates on the implementation of its communications strategy to help Member States better understand their obligations under UNSCR 1373 and successor resolutions, as well as to enhance their understanding of the CTC and CTED. - Note the increased cooperation between CTED, the G8's Counterterrorism Action Group (CTAG),and other regional organizations in an effort to match donor assistance to needs to increase states' capacity through coordination and teamwork; encourage collaboration and teamwork. POINT OF CONTACT ¶4. The point of contact for this request is John Foster in IO/PSC (202-736-7734),FosterJA2@state.gov (unclassified) or FosterJA2@state.sgov.gov (classified) and Erin Crowe in IO/PSC (202-736-7847). CLINTON