US embassy cable - 05DUBLIN409

S E C R E T DUBLIN 000409 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/ESC/TFS (M. BRUNO), S/CT (T. KUSHNER), 
EUR/UBI, IO/OSC (B. FITZGERALD) 
TREASURY FOR (J. ZARATE), OFAC DIRECTOR (R. WERNER) 
STATE PASS TO NSC (K. EMERSON) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2015 
TAGS: PTER, KTFN, EFIN, ECON, ETTC, EAID, TC 
SUBJECT: TERRORIST FINANCE: BUISIR PRENOTIFICATION 
 
REF: SECSTATE 61751 
 
Classified By: DCM Jonathon Benton for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (S)   On April 7, Maurice Biggar, acting director of the 
DFA's UN office, and Stephan Dawson, deputy director of the 
Middle East office, briefed POL/ECON counselor on the hurdles 
the GOI would have to jump in order to co-sponsor submission 
of Buisir to the UN 1267 Committee.  Because Buisir is an 
Irish citizen, the GOI's lawyers would need to offer a legal 
opinion on whether the GOI could co-sponsor, and might need 
to appeal to the Attorney General.  The process could take 
several weeks "or months."  The GOI fears that co-sponsoring 
the submission would leave them open to lawsuits, and would 
generate strong political criticism.  They believe parliament 
would excoriate them for "sneakily" using international 
mechanisms to get at an Irish citizen rather than building a 
criminal case against Buisir or using the recently signed 
anti-terrorism law to ask Irish judges to designate him. 
 
2. (S) POL/ECON counselor asked them to set aside legal 
questions and consider the political advantages of 
co-sponsoring, given their own concerns about Buisir and 
their strong commitment to the UN.  Their candid assessment 
was that the USG could secure designation far more quickly 
without Irish help.  POL/ECON counselor urged them to 
re-consider, and asked as well that they issue a supportive 
statement if the UN 1267 Committee designates Buisir.  Biggar 
and Dawson agreed to raise these issues with the Political 
Director and Foreign Minister when they return April 8.  (FM, 
political director, and UN office director have been in New 
York since Monday, preparing for their role in UN reform.) 
KENNY