VZCZCXRO9561
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHSM #1209/01 2691520
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 261520Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2736
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 STOCKHOLM 001209 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (PARA 4 CLASSIFICATION CORRECTED) 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/NB, L/EUR, DS/IP/EUR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/18/2017 
TAGS: KJUS PREL ASEC SW
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S SEPTEMBER 19 MEETING WITH JUSTICE 
MINISTER ASK:  CT COOPERATION, IRAQI ASYLEES MOHAMMED 
CARTOONS 
 
REF: A. STOCKHOLM 1178 
     ¶B. STOCKHOLM 1140 
     ¶C. STOCKHOLM 1090 
     ¶D. STOCKHOLM 1061 
 
STOCKHOLM 00001209  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Michael Wood, reason 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
¶1. (C) The Ambassador, accompanied by RSO and Poloff, met 
September 19 with Minister of Justice Beatrice Ask. Ask said 
Sweden has increased its budget for counterterrorism 
activities, noted there are good prospects for passing 
pending legislation on wiretapping and bugging, underscored 
Sweden's large influx of Iraqi asylum seekers, and said that 
the "Mohammed as a dog" issue was far from over. With regard 
to the MLAT, Minister Ask stressed that Sweden is interested 
in having it implemented and in force as soon as possible. 
End Summary 
 
Increasing Counter-Terrorism Resources 
-------------------------------------- 
¶2. (C) Ask said that Swedish progress on counterterrorism 
efforts were a major focus of her May 2007 trip to the U.S. 
She noted that during the 2006-7 budgetary cycle, the MOJ had 
increased CT assets, including personnel, by 30 percent, and 
had increased police assets across the board by 6 percent. 
In response to the Ambassador's query regarding the 2007-8 
budget proposal, Ask said this would reflect a much more 
modest increase. 
 
¶3. (C) Ask emphasized that Sweden sought to ensure its CT 
efforts were effective, consistent with rule of law 
principles, and made with a view to long-term effects.  The 
global war on terror, she said, would last longer than two 
years. 
 
Wiretapping 
----------- 
¶4. (C) Ask said she was cautiously optimistic that 
wiretapping and "bugging" legislation, currently pending, 
would pass in the Parliament now that a "Security Integrity 
Board" and a parallel process for public disclosure had been 
established.  She said that this arrangement, which would 
provide accountability and oversight to governmental 
fixed-line and remote monitoring device eavesdropping, was 
the best approach to deal with potential public concerns and 
parliamentary opposition. Ask noted, however, that it was 
certain that vocal public and legislative minorities would 
still make their opposition to governmental wiretapping known. 
 
Iraqi Immigration and Asylum 
---------------------------- 
¶5. (C) Ask mentioned that her Ministry is confronting the 
effects of the disproportionate number of displaced Iraqi 
refugees in the country, saying that 60 percent of the Iraqi 
asylum applicants who come to EU countries end up in Sweden 
-- an estimated 20,000 in 2007, added to a total of 
approximately 100,000 now resident in Sweden.  Ask said that 
this was Sweden's contribution to the situation in Iraq, and 
said that immigration issues would feature prominently on the 
EU agenda as Sweden assumes the EU presidency in the second 
half of 2009. 
 
¶6. (C) Ask noted that that Iraqi immigration had been a 
primary focus of the September 1-2 visit of Foreign Minister 
Carl Bildt and Minister of Immigration Tobias Billstrom to 
Iraq. Ask thanked the U.S. for providing security and 
transport support for the visit. 
 
Mohammed Cartoons 
----------------- 
¶7. (C) Ask called the issue of the "Mohammed as Dog" cartoons 
published in a Swedish regional paper a "slowly exploding 
bomb," noting that the government also had a role of 
protecting freedom of speech (refs a-d). Ask said that the 
artist Lars Vilks, who is now under government protection in 
response to the Al Qaeda in Iraq "fatwa", was not making 
things easy for Swedish police in charge of his security by 
making public appearances and describing his whereabouts to 
the media. 
 
MLAT 
---- 
¶8. (C) Justice Minister Ask asked the Ambassador about the 
status of the U.S./Sweden Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty 
(MLAT).  We reviewed the Swedish MLAT relation to the EU 
MLAT, and the later's ratification prospects.  Ask stressed 
that Sweden, which has already ratified, is keen on having 
 
STOCKHOLM 00001209  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
the treaty implemented and in force as soon as possible. 
 
Trafficking in Persons 
---------------------- 
¶9. (C) Ask emphasized her interest in combating trafficking 
in persons. Ask said that she hoped that the Sweden EU 
Presidency would afford a chance to effect positive changes 
in the poor record of human trafficking produced by 
multilateral peacekeeping missions. The Ambassador noted that 
First Lady Laura Bush and Queen Sylvia had found common 
ground on this issue during the Swedish King and Queen's 
White House visit. 
WOOD