

Currently released so far... 6239 / 251,287
Articles
Browse latest releases
2010/12/01
2010/12/02
2010/12/03
2010/12/04
2010/12/05
2010/12/06
2010/12/07
2010/12/08
2010/12/09
2010/12/10
2010/12/11
2010/12/12
2010/12/13
2010/12/14
2010/12/15
2010/12/16
2010/12/17
2010/12/18
2010/12/19
2010/12/20
2010/12/21
2010/12/22
2010/12/23
2010/12/24
2010/12/25
2010/12/26
2010/12/27
2010/12/28
2010/12/29
2010/12/30
2011/01/01
2011/01/02
2011/01/04
2011/01/05
2011/01/07
2011/01/09
2011/01/10
2011/01/11
2011/01/12
2011/01/13
2011/01/14
2011/01/15
2011/01/16
2011/01/17
2011/01/18
2011/01/19
2011/01/20
2011/01/21
2011/01/22
2011/01/23
2011/01/24
2011/01/25
2011/01/26
2011/01/27
2011/01/28
2011/01/29
2011/01/30
2011/01/31
2011/02/01
2011/02/02
2011/02/03
2011/02/04
2011/02/05
2011/02/06
2011/02/07
2011/02/08
2011/02/09
2011/02/10
2011/02/11
2011/02/12
2011/02/13
2011/02/14
2011/02/15
2011/02/16
2011/02/17
2011/02/18
2011/02/19
2011/02/20
2011/02/21
2011/02/22
2011/02/23
2011/02/24
2011/02/25
2011/02/26
2011/02/27
2011/02/28
2011/03/01
2011/03/02
2011/03/03
2011/03/04
2011/03/05
2011/03/06
2011/03/07
2011/03/08
2011/03/09
2011/03/10
2011/03/11
2011/03/13
2011/03/14
2011/03/15
2011/03/16
2011/03/17
2011/03/18
2011/03/19
2011/03/20
2011/03/21
2011/03/22
Browse by creation date
Browse by origin
Embassy Athens
Embassy Asuncion
Embassy Astana
Embassy Asmara
Embassy Ashgabat
Embassy Ankara
Embassy Amman
Embassy Algiers
Embassy Addis Ababa
Embassy Accra
Embassy Abuja
Embassy Abu Dhabi
Embassy Abidjan
Consulate Amsterdam
American Institute Taiwan, Taipei
Embassy Bujumbura
Embassy Buenos Aires
Embassy Budapest
Embassy Bucharest
Embassy Brussels
Embassy Bridgetown
Embassy Bratislava
Embassy Brasilia
Embassy Bogota
Embassy Bishkek
Embassy Bern
Embassy Berlin
Embassy Belgrade
Embassy Beirut
Embassy Beijing
Embassy Banjul
Embassy Bangkok
Embassy Bandar Seri Begawan
Embassy Bamako
Embassy Baku
Embassy Baghdad
Consulate Barcelona
Embassy Copenhagen
Embassy Conakry
Embassy Colombo
Embassy Chisinau
Embassy Caracas
Embassy Canberra
Embassy Cairo
Consulate Curacao
Consulate Ciudad Juarez
Consulate Chennai
Consulate Casablanca
Consulate Cape Town
Embassy Dushanbe
Embassy Dublin
Embassy Doha
Embassy Djibouti
Embassy Dhaka
Embassy Dar Es Salaam
Embassy Damascus
Embassy Dakar
Consulate Dubai
Embassy Kyiv
Embassy Kuwait
Embassy Kuala Lumpur
Embassy Kinshasa
Embassy Kigali
Embassy Khartoum
Embassy Kathmandu
Embassy Kampala
Embassy Kabul
Consulate Kolkata
Embassy Luxembourg
Embassy Luanda
Embassy London
Embassy Ljubljana
Embassy Lisbon
Embassy Lima
Embassy Lilongwe
Embassy La Paz
Consulate Lagos
Mission USNATO
Embassy Muscat
Embassy Moscow
Embassy Montevideo
Embassy Monrovia
Embassy Minsk
Embassy Mexico
Embassy Mbabane
Embassy Maputo
Embassy Manama
Embassy Managua
Embassy Malabo
Embassy Madrid
Consulate Munich
Consulate Mumbai
Consulate Montreal
Consulate Monterrey
Consulate Milan
Embassy Pristina
Embassy Pretoria
Embassy Prague
Embassy Port Au Prince
Embassy Phnom Penh
Embassy Paris
Embassy Paramaribo
Embassy Panama
Consulate Peshawar
REO Basrah
Embassy Rome
Embassy Riyadh
Embassy Riga
Embassy Reykjavik
Embassy Rangoon
Embassy Rabat
Consulate Rio De Janeiro
Consulate Recife
Secretary of State
Embassy Stockholm
Embassy Sofia
Embassy Skopje
Embassy Singapore
Embassy Seoul
Embassy Sarajevo
Embassy Santo Domingo
Embassy Santiago
Embassy Sanaa
Embassy San Salvador
Embassy San Jose
Consulate Strasbourg
Consulate Shenyang
Consulate Shanghai
Consulate Sao Paulo
Embassy Tunis
Embassy Tripoli
Embassy Tokyo
Embassy The Hague
Embassy Tel Aviv
Embassy Tehran
Embassy Tegucigalpa
Embassy Tbilisi
Embassy Tashkent
Embassy Tallinn
Consulate Tijuana
USUN New York
USEU Brussels
US Mission Geneva
US Interests Section Havana
US Delegation, Secretary
UNVIE
Embassy Ulaanbaatar
Browse by tag
ASEC
AU
AORC
AF
AM
AFIN
AEMR
AR
ASIG
AMGT
AG
APER
AL
ABLD
ASUP
AA
ASECKFRDCVISKIRFPHUMSMIGEG
AE
AMED
AS
AGMT
APECO
AO
AFFAIRS
AJ
ACOA
AX
AROC
ATFN
ASEAN
AFGHANISTAN
ADCO
AFU
AER
ALOW
AODE
ABUD
ATRN
AID
AC
AVERY
APCS
CASC
CJAN
CVIS
CS
COUNTER
CD
CU
CI
CO
CG
CE
CA
CMGT
CH
CWC
CBW
CKGR
CR
CN
CPAS
CONS
CDG
CLINTON
CT
CJUS
CY
CV
COUNTERTERRORISM
CIA
CACM
CDB
CAN
COE
CM
COUNTRY
CLEARANCE
CACS
CF
CONDOLEEZZA
CARSON
CL
CIS
CODEL
CTM
CB
COM
ECON
EFIN
ETRD
EAIR
EAID
ET
EFIS
ENRG
EPET
ETTC
ER
EG
EINV
EAGR
ELAB
EUN
EWWT
ENGR
EMIN
ECIN
ENIV
ES
EC
ECPS
EIND
EI
EU
ENVI
ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS
ELTN
EZ
EINT
ELN
EUR
EUNCH
EN
EINVECONSENVCSJA
ELECTIONS
EINVEFIN
ENNP
ECUN
EXTERNAL
EK
EFINECONCS
ECINECONCS
ECIP
EINDETRD
EUC
EREL
ENVR
ECA
ENERG
ENGY
ETRO
EFTA
ECONCS
ECONOMICS
ECONEFIN
EINVETC
EINN
ESA
ETC
ETRDEINVTINTCS
ESENV
ETRDECONWTOCS
IR
IZ
IWC
IC
ILC
IO
IAEA
IN
IS
IT
ICRC
INTELSAT
ILO
IBRD
IMF
ICAO
IMO
ITALY
ITALIAN
IRAQI
ITRA
ISRAELI
ICJ
IACI
INTERPOL
ID
IV
ICTY
IQ
IPR
INRB
ITPHUM
IIP
IL
IA
INR
ITPGOV
IZPREL
IRC
INRA
INRO
IRAJ
IEFIN
IF
KE
KCRM
KDRG
KIPR
KCOR
KSCA
KBIO
KDEM
KMCA
KMPI
KNNP
KJUS
KOMC
KGHG
KSUM
KSTC
KIRF
KTIP
KWMN
KZ
KG
KTFN
KHLS
KPAO
KFRD
KTIA
KOLY
KCFE
KISL
KFLU
KPKO
KWBG
KTBT
KTDB
KOCI
KUNR
KAWK
KICC
KPAL
KSTH
KN
KS
KGIC
KNPP
KWAC
KMDR
KAWC
KBCT
KIDE
KFLO
KWMNCS
KSEP
KU
KNEI
KVPR
KACT
KRAD
KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG
KCIP
KSAF
KV
KSPR
KPRP
KFSC
KCRS
KR
KRFD
KX
KO
KPWR
KMIG
KSEC
KIFR
KDEMAF
KFIN
KGCC
KPIN
KHIV
KPLS
KIRC
KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG
KGIT
KBTS
KPRV
KBTR
KERG
KWMM
KRVC
KNSD
KVIR
KNUP
KTER
KDDG
KHSA
KMRS
KHDP
KTLA
KPAK
KNAR
KREL
KPAI
KTEX
KCOM
KNNPMNUC
KPOA
KLIG
KHUM
KDEV
KNUC
KCFC
KREC
KOMS
KWWMN
MASS
MP
MARR
MOPS
MNUC
MX
MO
MCAP
MY
ML
MU
MIL
MC
MTRE
MA
MD
MTCRE
MEPI
MAR
MRCRE
MR
MV
MPOS
MZ
MEPP
MOPPS
MAPP
MASC
MT
MERCOSUR
MK
MDC
MI
MAPS
MCC
MASSMNUC
MQADHAFI
MUCN
MTCR
MG
OVIP
OREP
OTRA
OSCE
OECD
OIIP
OEXC
OPCW
OPIC
OPDC
OPRC
ODIP
OVP
OSCI
OAS
OFDP
OTR
OSAC
OIC
OFFICIALS
OIE
PREL
PGOV
PHUM
PTER
PE
PINR
PINS
PARMS
PARM
PHSA
PA
PK
PBTS
PO
PREF
POL
PLN
POLITICS
PROP
PL
PM
PAO
PSI
PG
PEPR
POV
PALESTINIAN
PINT
PSOE
PU
POLITICAL
PARTIES
PBIO
PECON
PAK
POGOV
PINL
PKFK
PMIL
PY
PFOR
PHALANAGE
PARTY
PRAM
PMAR
PGOVLO
PUNE
PORG
PHUMPREL
PF
POLINT
PHUS
PGOC
PNR
PGGV
PNAT
PGOVE
PRGOV
PRL
PROV
PTERE
PGOF
PHUMBA
PINF
PEL
SNAR
SO
SENV
SU
SCUL
SOCI
SP
SC
SA
SMIG
SAN
SZ
SW
SN
SY
SR
SL
SEVN
SF
SYR
SI
SG
STEINBERG
SIPRS
SH
SNARCS
SOFA
SANC
SHUM
SK
ST
TERRORISM
TRGY
TZ
TX
TBIO
TSPA
TS
TSPL
TW
TU
TD
TIP
TURKEY
TP
TI
TC
TPHY
TH
TO
TK
TNGD
TINT
TRSY
TR
TFIN
TT
UG
UK
UP
UNGA
UNHRC
UZ
UN
UNAUS
USTR
UNSC
US
UNEP
UY
UNESCO
USUN
UNHCR
UAE
UNMIK
USEU
UV
UNO
UNDP
UNCHS
UNVIE
UNCHC
UE
UNDESCO
USAID
UNDC
Browse by classification
Community resources
courage is contagious
Viewing cable 08LONDON1577, HOME SECRETARY SELLS THE COUNTER-TERRORISM BILL;
If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs
Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
- The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
- The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
- The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #08LONDON1577.
Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|---|
08LONDON1577 | 2008-06-06 14:02 | 2011-02-03 21:09 | SECRET | Embassy London |
VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB
DE RUEHLO #1577/01 1581410
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 061410Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY LONDON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8861
INFO RUEILB/NCTC WASHINGTON DC
RHEFHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
S E C R E T LONDON 001577
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/04/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PK UK
SUBJECT: HOME SECRETARY SELLS THE COUNTER-TERRORISM BILL;
HMG ROLLS OUT LOCAL COUNTER-RADICALIZATION PROGRAMS
REF: SCHULZ/YODER JUNE 3 E-MAIL Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Maura Connelly for reasons 1. 4 (b,d) 1. (C) Summary. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith used a speech June 3 to sell Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Counter-Terrorism Bill, including a new 42-day detention without charge period, and to roll-out HMG's strategy at ground-level to counter extremism within the UK's Muslim communities. She defended the 42-day detention period, arguing that "new safeguards" ensured the extended period would be used only in "emergency situations." The bill - which also contains provisions allowing use of classified information in asset freezing determinations - will be voted on in the House of Commons the week of June 9; current Whitehall predictions are that it will pass, although a political confidante of the Prime Minister told us on June 5 the government is still 20 votes short. Smith's outline of HMG strategy for preventing young people from becoming engaged in extremism was accompanied by the Home Office's release of new policy documents about preventing extremism (ref e-mail). One of those documents lists local pilot projects to stem radicalization. A Home Office official told Poloff, however, that the document was meant as guidance for local level governments which remain unsure of how to implement the "Prevent" agenda of British counterterrorism strategy. He confirmed that HMG has launched several counter-radicalization projects, but said it is too early to tell which are succeeding. He underscored that the Home Office welcomes USG feedback on its ongoing counter-radicalization programs. The Home Secretary herself told Poloff that discussions with DHS Secretary Chertoff informed her own views of how to highlight the judiciary as a balance to constraints on liberty necessitated by counterterrorism measures. End summary.
Home Secretary Sells the Counter-Terrorism Bill ------------------------------------
¶2. (C) In a June 3 speech at the Smith Institute in London to an audience comprised mostly of security officials, academics, and business people engaged in security fields, Home Office Minister Jacqui Smith made the case for the Prime Minister's Counter-Terrorism Bill, which comes before the House of Commons for a vote the week of June 9. The bill's most controversial feature is a provision to extend the period that a terrorist suspect could be detained without charge to 42 days, up from the current 28 day period. The 42-day detention period has dominated Parliamentary and public debate over the bill, but the bill also contains important provisions related to freezing of assets in terrorist financing cases. The bill would allow UK courts, on a case-by-case basis, to establish rules permitting the use of classified information in asset-freezing judicial proceedings. The bill would also allow courts to appoint a "special advocate" who would represent the interests of the party, as well as allow a court to "exclude" any party from the proceeding if necessary.
¶3. (C) Even before Smith delivered her remarks, political observers and media were suggesting "compromises" Smith had made June 2 in private meetings with MPs may have provided enough cover or comfort for sufficient numbers of Labour MPs to support the bill. Some suggested that, more important than any accommodation Smith may have made regarding the 42-day detention period in the bill, was an internal Labour party determination not to let the PM suffer an embarrassing defeat on this bill at a time he is struggling in opinion polls. In her speech, Smith said terror cases had grown more complex with time and that this was the reason for the Government's request to extend the period for detention without charge for terror suspects from 28 to up to 42 days. She said only 11 individuals have been held from between seven and 28 days, bolstering her argument that the detention period is used only "in extremis" (although perhaps undermining the argument that it is essential to extend the detention period). Smith said "new safeguards" have been built into the bill -- including that the police have only seven days to seek a 42-day detention period from arrest. She noted that the police and the judiciary would have to authorize its use for each individual. She also argued that, because other European legal systems are very different from Britain's, charges that the UK is in breach of general European standards are without merit. After her remarks, the Home Secretary herself told Poloff that discussions with DHS Secretary Chertoff informed her own views of how to highlight the judiciary as a balance to constraints on liberty necessitated by counterterrorism measures.
Other Measures for Controlling Terror Suspects --------------------------------------------- -
¶4. (S) Smith said in her speech that HMG sought to process terror suspects through the criminal justice system but that, where there was not enough evidence to do so, it would take other measures. These included negotiating diplomatic assurances with foreign governments that would allow HMG to deport foreign terror suspects and the use of "control orders." Smith did not make clear who is subject to "control orders" or of what they consist. (Embassy note: "Control Orders" are limits HMG places on an individual's liberty for the purpose of "protecting members of the public from the risk of terrorism" and are forms of house arrest on a sliding scale which can include electronic tagging of the individual, limitations on contacts with other persons, prohibitions against meeting people, limits on communications and prohibitions on travel. British security services are better able to surveille British citizens and foreigners who are under control orders as the effect of the orders is to limit their freedom of movement, freedom of speech, and ability to organize. End note)
Preventing Young People from Becoming Terrorists --------------------------------------------- ---
¶5. (C) On the same day as Smith's speech, the Home Office released two new detailed papers explaining the "Prevent" portion of HMG's Counterterrorism Strategy (known as "CONTEST"). Those papers (ref) include a description of local government activities being undertaken under to prevent extremism. Home Office official Steven Miller (who works on the "Prevent" team in the Home Office) told Poloff the documents were "meant as guidance" for local governments "who understand they are charged to implement 'Prevent' but don't always know what that means." The document makes reference to a "de-radicalization project" wherein vulnerable young people are given extensive access to government services and the opportunity of theological debate about interpretations of Islam. Poloff asked Miller for the Home Office's assessment of that program. He said it was but one of several de-radicalization programs HMG has started in communities and in prisons. Miller said the programs varied in content and in the categories of individuals targeted and have been undertaken over the course of the last 18 months. HMG has not yet assessed their merit, as it is too early to do so. He added that the Home Office intends to assess which de-radicicalization programs are succeeding, and which are failing, over the course of the next year and a half. Poloff expressed USG interest in HMG's efforts in this regard; Miller said Home Office "Prevent" team leader Paul Morrison, and other HMG officials, plan to travel to Washington at the end of June. They would welcome USG input into HMG programs, said Miller, who underscored HMG's interest in working with the USG on the subject of counter-radicalization.
¶6. (S) In her speech, the Home Secretary also spoke about HMG's focus on preventing young people from getting caught up in, and enthused by, terrorism. She described the "thirty years of Irish terrorism" as shaping how HMG dealt with internal security and said international terrorism was presenting a new challenge to which the Government had to react. Both in Smith's remarks, and in the "Prevent" documents released June 3, were references to some of the indicators HMG has determined make people susceptible to extremism, and terrorism. Without specifying that it is the case, these indicators have clearly been derived from highly classified analysis carried out by HMG about individuals detained for terrorist acts, or support of terrorism, in the UK. They include HMG's analysis that, for certain immigrants, (mostly from the Middle East or North Africa, but not from the IndiaQPakistan subcontinent) the fact of immigration itself appears to play a role in radicalization. And that "vulnerable" individuals, those who may embrace extremism, have often suffered a personal disappointment such as divorce, the death of a family member, or (more subjectively) an inability to acquire employment equal to education or ability.
¶7. (S) Two of the elements of the "Prevent" strategy, said Smith, were promoting unified, British values and building "resilience in the community." She said that, in the recent apprehension of terror suspect XXXXXXXXXXXX (a white British convert whose home was found to contain the ingredients for, and instructions on how to build, a suicide vest), he had been identified to the authorities by a local Mosque. This was an example of the necessity of building community resilience.
Comment
-------
¶8. (C) The jury is still out as to whether Brown has the votes to pass some version of his Counter-Terrorism Bill in the House of Commons; in any case, the bill may well come under further challenge in the House of Lords. Home Office Minister Smith has been very much in the limelight, and on the hot seat, during this debate. We should not put too great a stock in the import of the "launch" of the new "Prevent" documents which were mainly a restatement of previously announced programs and tactics for counter radicalization. Home Office officials have underscored to us that their release is really part of a Home Office effort to publicize "Prevent" and to gain buy-in from local communities and governments which recognize they are meant to "do something" but don't know what that something is. To some extent, nor does the Home Office. Home Office officials have also been at pains to describe their work, if not as experimental, as nascent. Smith and others in the British Government continue to try to tell the British public what they think is the threat to Britain -- a growing number of (mostly young) people who may be susceptible to extremism and terrorism (and who would turn that terrorism against the UK). This will help Smith sell Brown's Counter-Terrorism Bill, but it is also meant to serve a larger purpose. XXXXXXXXXXXX TUTTLE