S/CT AMBASSADOR BENJAMIN MEETS WITH UN

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000837

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CT PARM PREF PREL
SUBJECT: S/CT AMBASSADOR BENJAMIN MEETS WITH UN
COUNTER-TERRORISM REPRESENTATIVES


1. Summary: In an August 25 visit to the UN, S/CT
Ambassador Daniel Benjamin met with Richard Barrett,
Coordinator, Al-Qaida/Taliban Monitoring Team (UNSCR 1267),
Mike Smith, Executive Director, Counter-terrorism Executive
Directorate (CTED),and the acting Chair of the Security
Council Counter Terrorism Committee (Ranko Vilovic, Croatia's
Deputy Permanent Representative). Ambassador Benjamin also
met with Robert Orr and Jean Paul Laborde to discuss the
Counter-terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF). The
meetings provided an opportunity for Ambassador Benjamin to
convey the U.S. strategy on countering terrorism in the
international community and to meet the UN's major
Counter-terrorism (CT) representatives. End Summary.

1267 Chairman Richard Barrett


2. Richard Barrett, chair of the 1267 Monitoring Team, told
Ambassador Benjamin that the 1267 regime had been an
effective counter-terrorism tool, but that the 1267 Committee
needed to take action with respect to issues of due process
in order to preserve the long-term vitality of the sanctions
regime. Noting that most people see 1267 as an American-led
regime, he said that the current challenges facing the regime
presented an "opportunity for clear U.S. leadership." He
noted that the 1267 regime, which is now ten years old, could
probably not be replicated in the current political
environment.


3. Barrett emphasized the urgent need for the Committee to
scrub inappropriate listings in the context of the
Committee's comprehensive review of all the names on its
Consolidated List. In his opinion, Barrett said, states had
been too conservative in deciding when to propose de-listing
names. He noted that as a result of evolving Committee
practices, it was likely that that some "bad guys" would not
be added/retained on the Committee's List in the future.
Accepting a smaller -- but more credible -- Consolidated
List, Barrett asserted, was probably the price for preserving
the regime as an effective counter-terrorism tool. In
response, Ambassador Benjamin said that he was committed to
reinvigorating the multilateral side of counter-terrorism by
working with the 1267 Committee and others to ensure that the
regime remained effective.

CTED Executive Director Mike Smith


4. Ambassador Benjamin told CTED Director Smith that under
its new administration the United States will focus on
countering violent extremism, will take a more multilateral
approach in this effort and will try to get the "made in
America" stamp off the UN's CT agenda. Benjamin also said
that the United States greatly supports UN capacity building
efforts and praised the efforts of the UN's Office on Drugs
and Crimes in this area and will try to develop a good
dialogue to fill capacity building gaps. As an example,
Ambassador Benjamin said that bolstering the UN/G8 dialogue
on CT issues might be a way to fill such gaps.


5. Smith responded that he thought a U.S. multilateral focus
and working through UN institutions to address CT issues is
the right way forward. Smith also conveyed that he thought
that interaction between the UN and the G8/CTAG on CT issues
had not been particularly productive. Although the Japanese,
he said, had made a great effort to increase the UN/CTAG
dialogue, no real action resulted. He also said that CTED is
a small unit with only 38 people and an annual budget of $8
million. By comparison, Smith said that when he was
Australia's CT Ambassador, he had a staff of 40 people and an
annual budget of $450 million allowing him to make great
strides forward in terms of capacity building in Southeast
Asia. Smith said that although CTED is continuing to make
assessments of states' implementation of UNSCR 1373, he
doesn't have the people or the resources to make a
significant positive impact in countering international
terrorism.


6. One step CTED is taking, Smith said, is to hold two
meetings in November, one in Islamabad and the other in Dhaka
to build CT capacity. Smith said the Islamabad meeting
(partially funded by the World Bank) will be a training
session for Pakistani parliamentarians on terrorism finance
and the Dhaka workshop will be for police officers and will
focus on communication issues. Ambassador Benjamin
enthusiastically supported CTED's upcoming meetings in
Pakistan and Bangladesh and said he would make sure the U.S.
Regional Strategic Initiative (RSI) officers in the region
were made aware of CTED's agenda.


7. In response to Ambassador Benjamin's question as to what
other regions of the world CTED would focus its efforts,


Smith said that East Africa is of particular importance as it
is a region that has significantly weak border controls.
Smith said that he planned to engage three English speaking
countries in the region, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya as a
first step and said that overall communication is an issue in
each of these countries as border posts are not linked into
capitals. On another issue, Smith conveyed that
institutionalization of the CTITF is a good idea and that in
New York the offices of CTED and the CTITF should be
co-located to maximize information sharing.

Robert Orr, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Planning
Jean Paul Laborde, Exective Director, Counter-terrorism
Implementation Task Force



8. In his meeting with Jean Paul Laborde and Robert Orr,
Ambassador Benjamin explained that reinvigorating
multilateral CT activities at the UN is one of his three top
goals as the U.S. CT Coordinator. Orr commented that there
have been a number of major shifts in counter-terrorism at
the UN since Ambassador Benjamin was involved in CT issues
under the Clinton Administration. Orr said the UN Global
Counter-terrorism Strategy opened a lot of doors for CT
engagement with other countries, resulting in a number of
countries asking for UN help in dealing with their own
domestic CT issues. He also shared that the UN has also
developed mechanisms for working with countries, including
the Integrated Assistance program for Countering Terrorism.
Orr said early efforts have focused on countries with
relatively manageable terrorism issues and a high degree of
willingness to work with the UN and acknowledged that the
greater challenge is to move towards working with countries
that have more complex and high level terrorism concerns.


9. Jean Paul Laborde, now the head of the UN's
Counter-terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF),stated
that a major goal of his in chairing the CTITF is to improve
coordination with CTED and other UN CT groups, and to
increase prevention and mediation projects, such as those
currently underway in Central Asia and the Sahel.
Ambassador Benjamin responded that the United States is
currently in a strategy formation stage for the Sahel, and
that he will be talking to some European partners in
September about a variety of issues including this one.
Laborde noted that he would deliver a paper on the CTITF's
activities in this area to Ambassador Benjamin prior to the
Ambassador's September meetings. Laborde reiterated that the
primary role of CTITF was to get other CT UN players to act
and work together, rather than to do CT work on its own.
Ambassador Benjamin emphasized his support for the work of
the CTITF as well as for the organization's
institutionalization, and noted that he looked forward to
worki
ng with both Orr and Laborde in the future.

Acting CTC Chair, Croatian Deputy Permanent Representative
Ranko Vilovic


10. Ambassador Benjamin's meeting with Croatian Deputy
Permrep RankoVilovic revealed only that Vilovic acknowledged
his responsibility to chair CTC meetings but presented no
agenda for the next few months and conveyed that he thought
any significant next steps would be taken when Turkey takes
over as Chairman in January, 2009.
RICE