VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #0837/01 2581605
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151605Z SEP 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7179
INFO RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0097
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 2476
RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB 3264

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