US embassy cable - 05ROME4023

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 004023 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/06/2015 
TAGS: PREL, ASEC, PTER, EFIN, PGOV, IT, ANTITERRORISM/FORCE PROTECTION 
SUBJECT: INTERIOR MINISTER ON OLYMPICS SECURITY, MUSLIM 
OUTREACH, PASSPORTS 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR RONALD P. SPOGLI FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY: The Minister of Interior and Chief of Police 
DeGennaro December 6 expressed readiness to cooperate fully 
with the USG on Olympics security issues.  Besides the 
Olympics, Italian security authorities had identified 13,000 
potential targets around the country and instituted measures 
to protect them.  The Minister said he had set up a new 
Muslim Advisory Council to tackle practical problems of 
integration.  He felt Italy's first-generation immigrant 
worker Muslim population was an inhospitable environment for 
extremists.  Those prone to extremism, whom he estimated at 
no more than three percent of the total population, were 
aggressively monitored.  Over two hundred had been expelled 
in recent years.  Discussing the visa waiver program, the 
police chief said the MOI planned to bring new biometric 
passports on line everywhere in the April-July timeframe. 
Meanwhile, five regional centers would issue photodigitized 
passports.  The Minister and police chief both expressed 
willingness to explore additional cooperation with the U.S. 
on both terrorism finance issues and terrorist data-sharing. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
Olympics Security 
----------------- 
 
2. (C) Ambassador, accompanied by Pol M/C, December 6 hosted 
Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu and Chief of Police 
Giovanni DeGennaro at his residence to discuss Olympics 
security, Muslim outreach, and terrorist financing and 
data-sharing efforts.  The Ambassador noted USG appreciation 
for the briefings and exchanges on Olympics security that 
DeGennaro had provided Adviser to the President on Homeland 
Security Fran Townsend the previous week.  He said clear 
communications and transparency were a vital part of our 
Olympics planning, and urged prompt follow-up on our request 
for additional details. (Note:  The Ambassador personally 
delivered to DeGennaro December 2 our specific list of 
requests for information about Italian contingency planning 
for natural, conventional attack or CNB disasters.)  The 
Ambassador also stressed the importance of briefing key 
sponsors and the press on security preparations in the run-up 
to the Games.  He asked the Minister and DeGennaro for their 
assessment of the terrorist threat. 
 
3. (C) Both men acknowledged the Ambassador's point on 
sponsor and press briefings.  DeGennaro noted that a 
substantial volume of information had been provided to U.S. 
officials on Olympics security planning and said the MOI 
would work with us on follow-up issues.  On the threat, 
Pisanu said terrorists pursue the targets where they have the 
best chance of success.  If one site is well-guarded, and 
another not, then the second becomes a more attractive 
target.  So, in addition to tight Olympics security, the 
ministry had identified 13,000 possible targets around the 
country and developed measures to protect them. 
 
Muslim Outreach 
--------------- 
 
4. (C) The Ambassador asked Pisanu about his recently 
announced Muslim Advisory Council.  Pisanu said the council 
was intended to address practical, social issues such as 
issuance of work permits and religious training in schools. 
The intent was to develop a tool to help promote integration 
into Italian society.  Even the UCOII (Union of Islamic 
Communities and Organizations in Italy), reported to have 
ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, had joined.  Pisanu said he 
firmly believed it was wiser to include, rather than exclude, 
such groups.  He noted that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt 
seemed interested in advancing its cause through political 
participation.  If the Muslim Advisory Council proved 
successful on the national level, the minister said, similar 
bodies could be established on the provincial level. 
 
5. (C) Pisanu said the Muslim community in Italy was not the 
same as that in France and other European countries.  It was 
smaller and more diffuse.  Most were first-generation 
immigrants who were after work.  Given the nature of Italy's 
Muslim community, any operation involving extensive 
preparation and a welcoming host community as an operating 
base would be difficult.  Still, there will always be some 
prone to extremism, but the minister estimated these counted 
for no more than three percent of the community in Italy. 
The advisory council was designed to reach out to the other 
97 percent.  The three percent were aggressively monitored -- 
mosques, schools, bakeries, butcher shops, meeting places. 
And over 200 persons had been expelled from the country in 
the past few years.  This meant that perhaps 2,000 had been 
identified and put under watch. 
 
Visa Waiver Program and Passports 
--------------------------------- 
 
6. (C) Ambassador prodded Pisanu and DeGennaro on the 
timetable for issuance of photodigitized passports, noting 
that visa demand at our embassy and consulates had risen up 
181 percent in the past month.  The Minister said he had 
hoped for "more friendly treatment" in order to have avoided 
the current need for Italian citizens to apply for a U.S. 
visa since they were developing a new passport.  Meanwhile, 
five regional offices would be issuing photodigitized 
passports.  DeGennaro telephoned his ministry during the 
discussion to ask about the timetable for issuance of the new 
biometric documents.  He reported that they were scheduled to 
come on line everywhere in the April-July timeframe. 
 
Terrorist Financing and Data-Sharing 
------------------------------------ 
 
7. (C) The Minister expressed interest in cooperation on 
terrorist financing.  Prefect Carlo DeStefano in the Ministry 
of Interior was the right point of contact.  DeStefano also 
sat on an interministerial committee that included the 
ministries of Economy and Finance.  The Ambassador said we 
were interested in developing ideas for better data-sharing 
of terrorist databases.  Pol M/C noted this could included an 
actual exchange of 200 names that would allow both sides to 
examine some of the practical issues in making such an 
arrangement work.  Pisanu said Italy would be prepared to 
share "500 percent" of its national information and DeGennaro 
asked where the information would be coming from.  Pol M/C 
explained that it would be from our interagency Terrorist 
Screening Center and the next step was to figure out who 
should be talking to whom.  DeGennaro said in the first 
instance we should provide him with the details of any 
proposal and he would then make a recommendation to the 
Minister. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
8. (C) COMMENT: This exchange occurred during a private, 
informal lunch at the Ambasador's residence.  All discussion 
was in Italian; Pisanu and DeGennaro were friendly and 
engaged.  Both appeared attentive to the Ambassador's 
suggestions on Olympics security follow-up and to the need 
for security briefings for sponsors and press.  They seemed 
open to the ideas we advanced about developing cooperation on 
terrorist financing and data-sharing, although they wanted 
details on what agencies would be providing information and 
how things would work.  The Minister takes obvious pride in 
his initiative for outreach to the Muslim community in Italy 
(an effort that has generated some political heat on the 
right).  At the same time, he and the police chief were 
unambiguously firm in their ongoing efforts to monitor, and 
if need be, expel any individuals in the community advocating 
violence or extremism.  Pisanu made no effort to disguise the 
fact that he had hoped for "more friendly treatment" on the 
visa waiver front, noting Italy's constancy as a friend and 
ally.  But he made equally clear that he had no desire for 
this difference to impede our security, law enforcement, and 
counter-terrorism cooperation.  END COMMENT. 
SPOGLI