VZCZCXRO4148
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHMD #2771/01 3031526
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301526Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1190
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA PRIORITY 2197
RUEHNA/DEA HQS WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNFB/FBI WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 002771 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN: VISIT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES 
 
MADRID 00002771  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Attorney General Alberto Gonzales visited 
Madrid on October 23-24 to meet with the Spanish Minister of 
Justice, the Minister of Interior, and the Spanish Prosecutor 
General.  AG Gonzales also participated in the fourth meeting 
of the U.S.-Spain Bilateral Counter Terrorism Experts Working 
Group.  He thanked Spanish interlocutors for Spain's close 
cooperation with the USG against international terrorists and 
said the USG looked forward to further improving judicial and 
security collaboration with Spanish authorities.  AG Gonzales 
asked Minister of Justice Aguilar and Prosecutor General 
Conde Pumpido for help in explaining to the Spanish people 
why the U.S. undertook some of its more controversial tactics 
in the War on Terror.  MOJ Aguilar responded that Spain fully 
respected the USG's decision to pursue terrorists in the 
manner it has chosen, but said that Spain saw terrorism as a 
law enforcement and political issue, not as a military one. 
Minister of Interior Rubalcaba told AG Gonzales the most 
serious issues on his agenda are stemming the flow of illegal 
migrants to Spain and confronting Islamist terrorism. 
End Summary. AG Gonzales invited Rubalcaba to visit the U.S. 
and we will work to identify an early opportunity for such a 
visit. 
 
//MINISTER OF JUSTICE// 
 
¶2. (U) Attorney General Gonzales visited Madrid on October 
23-24 to coincide with the fourth meeting of the U.S.-Spain 
Bilateral Counter Terrorism Experts Working Group. 
Accompanied by the Ambassador, AG Gonzales met with Minister 
of Justice Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar and Prosecutor General 
Candido Conde Pumpido.  Conde Pumpido thanked AG Gonzales for 
timing his visit to coincide with the Counter Terrorism 
Working Group, which he said was a vital tool for removing 
technical impediments to improved security cooperation.  AG 
Gonzales thanked Aguilar and Conde Pumpido for Spain's strong 
support for U.S. law enforcement and judicial efforts against 
international terrorism.  Minister of Justice Aguilar said 
that Spain's experience in the long fight against ETA 
demonstrated that international cooperation was the only way 
to ensure victory against terrorist organizations.  Aguilar 
said the Spanish Government realized that it faced a 
long-term struggle with Islamist radicalism. 
 
¶3. (SBU) AG Gonzales requested the help of the Spanish 
authorities in explaining to the Spanish people the reasoning 
behind USG tactics in the War on Terror, particularly the 
differences in U.S. legal system and the different political 
viewpoints that allowed for the use of military commissions 
against terrorist combatants.  He noted that the questioning 
of military commissions was fair in countries without an 
extensive history of military justice, but that the long 
tradition of the U.S. military court system would ensure due 
process.  Aguilar said that Spanish officials understood that 
it was not Spain's place to interfere with USG decisions on 
how to confront the terrorist threat, but that the USG 
approach was highly controversial in Spain and other EU 
countries.  He noted that there was an active debate in Spain 
regarding the extraterritorial reach of Spanish courts. 
Aguilar emphasized Spain's understanding that the USG had 
arrived at its current anti-terrorist policies through a 
constitutional process and that the U.S. had a right to act 
as it viewed necessary. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Prosecutor General Conde Pumpido said Spain was 
committed to working with USG judicial and security officials 
and could offer its own 40-year experience in fighting 
terrorists.  He noted that Spain had a long tradition of 
military courts, but that such courts now mainly handled 
disciplinary issues and, in any case, were now under the 
ultimate authority of the civilian Prosecutor General.  He 
said that Spain had found ways to channel all terrorism cases 
into the criminal court system, since labeling terrorists 
combatants rather than criminals simply elevated their 
position. 
 
¶5. (SBU) AG Gonzales said that this represented a fundamental 
source of tension between the U.S. and EU positions, since 
the U.S. believed it was fighting a war and needed to deploy 
all of the tools of war in order to confront the enemy.  He 
emphasized that the U.S. had tried many terrorist suspects in 
civilian courts and would continue to do so where 
appropriate, but would also use the military justice system 
in accordance with decisions taken by the President, 
Congress, and the courts.  Minister Aguilar agreed that there 
were clear differences and said both sides needed to respect 
 
MADRID 00002771  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
those differences.  He said that Spain's unfortunate dirty 
war against ETA (during the Felipe Gonzalez presidency) 
colored the views of Spanish observers and inculcated a 
special appreciation of the importance of the rule of law. 
 
¶6. (U) Following their meeting, the Minister of Justice and 
Prosecutor General accompanied AG Gonzales to a brief press 
conference.  Spanish media focused on questions related to 
the War on Terror, but also asked AG Gonzales for his views 
on the ETA peace process.  AG Gonzales responded that the 
decision on how to confront ETA was an internal Spanish 
matter. 
 
//COUNTER TERRORISM WORKING GROUP// 
 
¶7. (SBU) AG Gonzales, Aguilar, and Conde Pumpido addressed 
the members of the Bilateral Counter Terrorism Working Group, 
that included Spanish prosecutors and USG officials from the 
Department of Justice, FBI, and the Consular and Political 
sections of the Embassy.  The U.S. and Spanish leaders of the 
Working Group presented the key developments of the two-day 
set of meetings, including a decision by the groups to pursue 
a joint investigation in a terrorism case of mutual interest 
and a determination to establish direct points of contact 
between the Spanish Prosecutor's Office and the U.S. 
Department of Justice. 
 
//MINISTER OF INTERIOR RUBALCABA// 
 
¶8. (SBU) AG Gonzalez and the Ambassador met with Minister of 
Interior Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba.  Rubalcaba said that the 
most pressing issues in his portfolio were the continuing 
massive flow of illegal immigrants into Spain and the threat 
posed by Islamist extremists.  Rubalcaba differentiated 
between ETA and Islamist terrorists, saying the Spanish 
authorities had gained an understanding of ETA and how to 
infiltrate the organization.  Islamist terrorists were far 
more difficult to counter, since neither he nor his officials 
could relate to their value system, making it difficult to 
forecast their intentions. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Rubalcaba expressed gratitude for USG cooperation 
with Spanish law enforcement agencies.  He expressed optimism 
that Spanish police agencies could improve their internal 
coordination (a long-standing problem), but said there were 
no coordination problems with U.S. counterparts.  He noted 
that the Zapatero Government had recently advised Parliament 
of the creation of a DNA database, a database that had been 
donated by the FBI.  Rubalcaba said it was important that the 
Spanish public learned of USG support for Spanish efforts 
against drug traffickers and other organized criminals. 
 
¶10. (U) Attorney General Gonzales thanked Rubalcaba for 
Spain's cooperation on law enforcement issues and invited him 
to visit the U.S.  Rubalcaba expressed interest in doing so, 
saying he had visited the U.S. while he was Minister of 
Education in the Gonzalez Administration, but had never 
visited Quantico or other law enforcement installations. 
 
//COMMENT// 
 
¶11. (SBU) This was a highly effective visit from the 
Embassy's point of view, particularly since it was the AG's 
first meeting with Rubalcaba.  Rubalcaba has surprised the 
Embassy with his openness to working with the USG and his 
willingness to consider innovative approaches to cooperation, 
including asking the USG for models of civilian-military on 
counter terrorism and counter narcotics.  The Embassy will 
work to find an early opportunity for Rubalcaba to visit the 
U.S., to help cement his readiness to engage with the USG. 
The AG's participation in the Working Group helped ensure 
that it was the most successful session of that group since 
its inception in 2005.  It also helped us deepen our 
relationship with the Ministers of Justice and Interior, with 
whom we have a busy agenda in the coming months. 
AGUIRRE