ITALY'S CHIEF OF COUNTER-TERRORISM, DIEGO

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000270 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM PREF PREL SUBJECT: ITALY'S CHIEF OF COUNTER-TERRORISM, DIEGO BRASIOLO, CALLS FOR AN INCREASE IN MEMBERS OF CTAG ¶1. SUMMARY: Italy, as President of the G8, convened its first meeting of counter-terrorism (CT) experts from the G8 UN delegations on March 11. Diego Brasioli, Chief of the Counter-Terrorism Branch in the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, presided over the meeting and discussed the stand-alone Declaration on counter-terrorism that Italy will present at the G8 Summit in La Maddalena in July and raised the notion of increasing the number of states that participate in the Counter-Terrorism Action Group (CTAG). Brasioli also hosted a meeting of CTAG UN delegations (plus a European Union (EU) rep) where CTED's (Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate) Executive Director, Mike Smith, provided an update on CTED's activities and included an idea to create a South Asia CT training center along the same lines as the Jakarta Center. The day before the meetings, Brasioli pre-briefed USUN which included the same points he made to the G8. END SUMMARY. ¶2. Brasioli, outlining Italy's approach as President of the G8, said that Italy would focus on CT issues from a regional perspective, rather than hosting local CTAG meetings in every country as Japan had done last year. As an example, he mentioned an upcoming meeting in Dakar, Senegal that would not be a bilateral meeting, but would include members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The theory, Brasioli said, is to help create a stronger interest in countering terrorism at the regional level where states might be able to help each other. ¶3. In regard to members of CTAG, Brasioli said that there are some states and international organizations that are not part of CTAG, but are poised to contribute to countering terrorism and that some of them should be given an opportunity to participate with the rest of the members of CTAG. He mentioned that adding The Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Turkey, one of the Nordic states and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) might be a good place to start. Canada reacted positively and suggested that the rotating president of the Nordic states be the Nordic representative to CTAG. Brasioli asked G8 members to keep the idea close hold until all respective capitals had the opportunity to weigh in on the idea and said the subject would be on the agenda of the G8 Lyon-Roma Anti-Crime and Counter-Terrorism Group (LR/ACT) meeting in Rome April 21-23. While addressing Italy's intentions to present a Declaration on counter-terrorism at the July G8 Summit, Brasioli asked G8 countries to develop recommendations to address due process concerns about UNSCR 1267 (listing/delisting) that would be included in such a declaration. In a general sense, Brasioli conveyed a greater role for the European Union in countering terrorism. USUN in both the U.S./Brasioli bilateral meeting and in the larger G8/CTAG meetings, supported Brasioli's initiative and efforts to enhance the G8/CTAG's ability to counter terrorism, noting that the approach was consistent with our own. USUN indicated that expansion of CTAG's membership would have to be carefully considered. ¶4. CTED Executive Director Mike Smith briefed CTAG UN delegations (plus EU) on the recent work of CTED including more focused visits to states. Smith endorsed Brasioli's regional approach with CTAG and said that he sees value in applying a similar approach to the way CTED does its work. Citing the South Asia region as the place in the world that needs the most help to counter terrorism, Smith said that a regional CT training center should be established in the region that would work in the same way as the Jakarta Training CT Center (JCLEC). Rice