VZCZCXRO0957
OO RUEHFL RUEHNP
DE RUEHRO #0786/01 1891601
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 081601Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2362
INFO RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE PRIORITY 3714
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN PRIORITY 0142
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES PRIORITY 3915

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000786 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2019 
TAGS: PREL IT

SUBJECT: ITALY AGREES TO CONSIDER THREE DETAINEES FOR 
RESETTLEMENT, AIMS TO MAKE ANNOUNCEMENT AT G8 

Classified By: A/DCM Barbara A. Leaf for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). 

¶1. (C) Summary. Special Envoy Fried met separately with 
Foreign Minister Frattini and Minister of Justice Alfano in 
Rome on July 1 to share information on three Guantanamo 
detainees for the Italians to consider for possible 
resettlement in Italy. Italian officials are 
contemporaneously working with the USG on a Memorandum of 
Understanding (MOU)to transfer two Guantanamo detainees and 
one Bagram detainee to Italy for prosecution, and are 
reviewing a list of eight other Guantanamo detainees to 
determine whether charges against them exist in Italy. 
Minister Alfano underlined GOI interest in the expedient 
conclusion of the MOU and both Frattini and Alfano stated 
that the GOI would like to announce the conclusion of the MOU 
and the transfer of the three detainees for prosecution at 
the G8 summit July 8-10. End summary. 

Italy Wants to Play a Leading Role 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- 

¶2. (C) In separate meetings on July 1, Special Envoy for 
Guantanamo Closure, Ambassador Daniel Fried, met with Italian 
Minister of Justice Alfano and Italian Minister of Foreign 
Affairs Frattini. In the morning meeting, Minister of 
Justice Alfano emphasized the GOI's willingness to help the 
USG in its objective of closing the Guantanamo Bay detention 
facility. Alfano highlighted the GOI's lead role in 
developing the June 4 EU framework agreement for the 
resettlement of detainees in EU Member States and that with 
this framework now settled, the GOI stood ready to receive 
three detainees based on existing charges for each in Italian 
courts. (Embassy's DOJ Attache has worked with the Italian 
MOJ to confirm charges for two Guantanamo detainees and one 
Bagram detainee in Italian courts, and the GOI has agreed to 
receive these three individuals for possible prosecution.) 
Amb. Fried acknowledged Italy's helpful role, and noted also 
the list of eight further Guantanamo detainees provided 
recently by the Embassy for the MOJ to review in expectation 
that some may also have charges in Italian courts. Alfano 
affirmed that the GOI was conducting a preliminary review of 
those eight further names to determine whether any charges 
existed. 

¶3. (C) Amb. Fried then moved on to a new category of detainee 
for the GOI to consider, namely individuals approved for 
resettlement and not requiring prosecution. Fried provided 
Minister Alfano the files of three detainees who the USG has 
approved for transfer, and who require resettlement due to 
post-transfer treatment concerns if returned to their country 
of origin. Amb. Fried noted that any questions the GOI might 
have on these files should be channeled through intelligence 
liaison at Embassy Rome. 

GOI Desire to Announce Transfer MOU at G8 Summit 
--------------------------------------------- --- 

¶4. (C) Minister Alfano told Amb. Fried the GOI would like to 
complete an MOU on transfer of the three previously agreed 
detainees in time to announce their transfer at the July 8-10 
G8 summit. Amb. Fried agreed to contact Washington and ask 
that work be expedited on the MOU. In the follow-on meeting, 
Minister Frattini echoed Alfano's request that the MOU be 
ready in time for announcement at the G8. After receiving 
the same three files from Amb. Fried previously provided to 
Alfano, Frattini opined that it would be helpful to have 
Schengen-releasable versions of the files, so that the GOI 
might be able to also announce at the G8 its plans to 
disseminate information on individuals it is considering for 
resettlement apart from the possible prosecutions. On this 
issue, Frattini noted that the Italian Parliament would not 
need to ratify any arrangement for the transfer and that it 
could likewise be effected expeditiously. Frattini also 
relayed a conversation with AG Holder, during which he 
commented that the GOI may look to enter into an agreement 
with any transferred detainees that they not file legal 
actions against the United States or Italy as a condition of 
their transfer. Amb. Fried noted that the USG would not 
require this condition, but took the concern over Italian 
claims on board and promised to discuss it when back in 
Washington. 

Frattini Addresses Potential Resettlements 
------------------------------------------ 

¶5. (C) In providing FM Frattini the files on the three 
detainees for the GOI to consider for resettlement, Amb. 
Fried focused on the fact that this group represented 
low-risk individuals who the USG is not asking the GOI to 
prosecute. Specifically, Amb. Fried highlighted the cases of 

ROME 00000786 002 OF 002 


two of the three, whom the U.S. federal courts have ordered 
released. He invited Frattini to review the files, noting 
that the GOI could pass any follow-up questions via 
intelligence channels and that the GOI is welcome to send a 
delegation to Guantanamo to speak with any detainees it is 
considering, without any commitment to take them. 

¶6. (C) Frattini thanked Fried for the files and said he 
would have GOI authorities review them expeditiously. In 
response to Fried's question about Minister of Interior 
Maroni's reservations about accepting detainees, Frattini 
said that Maroni was concerned about the possible impact on 
Italian security, and the burden the detainees would thus 
impose on security resources, in light of any need for 
surveillance and other measures. Frattini said that if the 
U.S. was proposing detainees who were not dangerous 
(referring to the court-ordered releases), this would help 
mitigate the problem. Frattini said that his own task, on 
the other hand would be to help integrate the detainees into 
Italian society in terms of employment and other support. 
Fried responded that Italy would have to make its own 
security assessment of each detainee and that no security 
expert would likely ever say there was no risk. Fried 
assured Frattini that the USG would work with Italy to 
provide information to assist it in meeting its Schengen 
requirements. 

¶7. (C) Fried closed by thanking the GOI, in particular PM 
Berlusconi, for standing with the U.S. on the effort to 
close Guantanamo. Frattini assured him that the U.S. could 
continue to rely on Italy. 
DIBBLE 
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