US embassy cable - 04ROME994

C O N F I D E N T I A L  ROME 000994 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE FOR EUR/WE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2014 
TAGS: AMGT, IT 
SUBJECT: ACTIVITY REPORT SUBMITTED BY THE POLITICAL, 
POL-MIL AND LABOR SECTIONS FOR THE PERIOD OF MARCH 12, 2004 
 
Classified By: ACTING POLITICAL COUNSELOR, JOHN BASS FOR REASONS 1.5 B 
& D. 
 
Political-Military 
 
1.  (C)  Italy concurs in U.S./NATO goals and plans in 
Afghanistan, and will pledge current funding levels in 
Berlin.  The GOI will lead a PRT, is leaning toward Herat as 
the site, and is seriously considering leading a Forward 
Support Base as well.  (Rome 927, 960) 
 
2.  (SBU) Ambassador Burns discussed the Istanbul Summit, the 
Greater Middle East (GME) Initiative, NATO prospects for Iraq 
and Afghanistan and a successor mission to SFOR during a set 
of excellent meetings Feb. 26-27 meetings with Italian 
officials, journalists and academics in Rome. (Rome 0860) 
 
3.  (C) In a March 3 address to the North Atlantic Council, 
FM Frattini presented Italian thinking on developing a 
comprehensive political strategy to guide NATO's military 
missions.  He focused on improving security on NATO's 
periphery, including the Med, Middle East, Afghanistan, and 
Central Asia.  Many of his points compliment our GME 
Initiative and its corresponding security element, the 
Istanbul Cooperation Initiative. 
 
4.  (C) We weighed in with Deputy Political Director 
Bisogniero to urge--successfully--that Italy support a tough 
resolution on Iran at this week's IAEA Board of Governors 
(BOG) meeting.  Although Italy came on board, it was not 
helpful during negotiations on the text.  It was in sync with 
our approach to have the Board inform the UNSC that Libya had 
in the past violated its nonproliferation commitments but was 
now cooperating with the IAEA. (Rome 0895) 
 
5.  (C) Italy is working closely with Libya on a technical 
request to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical 
Weapons to approve the conversion of the Rabta facility to a 
legitimate pharmaceutical production plant. (Rome 0777) 
 
Internal 
 
6.  (SBU)  The Ambassador continues efforts to get accurate 
information about the U.S. naval presence in Sardinia into 
all appropriate hands: a letter to Daisy President Rutelli, 
and side-bars to meetings with Health Minister Sirchia and 
Environment Minister Matteoli. 
 
7.  (C)  The Government's internal review of cabinet 
portfolios and policy priorities is over, but the truce will 
be honored in the breach in the run-up to June elections to 
the European Parliament.  (Rome 791) 
 
8.  (C)  At separate lunches with DS Secretary Fassino and DS 
President D'Alema, the Ambassador pushed for support for 
needed refurbishment and consolidation projects at La 
Maddalena; explained the President's GME Initiative; and 
sought insight into the upcoming elections.  (Cable to follow) 
 
9.  (U)  The Italian Chamber on March 10 joined the Senate in 
approving funding for all of Italy's foreign military 
missions, including Iraq.  The center-left crumbled 
embarrassingly.  (Rome 969, 936) 
 
10.  (SBU) We reported that the amorphous nature of anarchist 
activity in Italy has made the effort to combat it 
particularly difficult; however, the GOI is organizing itself 
to take on what it views as a growing threat.  Anarchists 
have an advantage in that they can easily melt back into 
society after deploying their simple jerry-rigged explosive 
devices.  (Rome 0813) 
 
External 
 
11.  (C) We reported that PM Blair during his March 4 lunch 
with   Berlusconi reassured him that the UK, France, and 
Germany, had no plans to create a "directorate" for decision 
making to the exclusion of other EU member states. 
Nevertheless, our UK contacts told us that the "trilateral" 
meetings would likely continue.  (Rome 0887) 
 
Law Enforcement/Counternarcotics 
 
12.  (SBU) Italian law enforcement officials are seeking 
additional USG assistance in helping them prove that Ansar 
al-Islam perpetrated the November 12 attack against 
Carabinieri headquarters in Nasiriya.  In coordination with 
Legat and OCP, we outlined their request for Washington and 
the CPA in Baghdad.  (Rome 0854) 
 
 
13.  (U) Italy has nominated a candidate to the International 
Narcotics Control Board and has requested our support.  (Rome 
0949) 
 
14.  (U) Italy's approach to the 47th session of the UN 
Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna (March 15-22) will 
track closely with ours.  (Cable to follow) 
 
Visits 
 
15.  (U) INR A/S Tom Fingar and INR Director for Europe Bo 
Miller will be in Rome at the end of the month to attend a 
conference on New Frontiers of Intelligence Analysis, in 
which Gianni Letta is playing a lead role.  We are arranging 
a full schedule of meetings for both Tom and Bo around their 
participation in the conference. 
 
Outreach 
 
16.  (U) On March 15 we will introduce journalists from 
Ideazione, a political journal linked to the center-right, to 
Public Affairs and explore possibilities for an enhanced 
relationship. 
 
17.  (U) On March 15 we will meet with On. Ferdinando 
Adornato to learn more about his Liberal Foundation, which 
has established a strong relationship with the American 
Enterprise Institute. 
 
Other 
 
18.  (U)  The Ambassador will send a sympathy letter to the 
Spanish Ambassador to Italy, condemning the March 11 Madrid 
attacks. 
SEMBLER 
 
 
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	2004ROME00994 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL