SC/8441
12 July 2005

Security Council Committee Meets Senior Officials of Netherlands to Discuss Implementation of Sanctions against Al-Qaida, Taliban

NEW YORK, 11 July (UN Headquarters) -- The Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee met on 1 July 2005 under the chairmanship of Ambassador César Mayoral (Argentina).  The meeting was convened for a briefing by senior representatives of the Government of the Netherlands concerning issues relevant to the Committee’s mandate.  The meeting was arranged pursuant to paragraph 11 of resolution 1526 (2004) that provides States with an opportunity, at the Committee’s request, to send representatives to meet with the Committee for more in-depth discussion of relevant issues.  This was the third such briefing by a Member State to the Committee, following the 10 January 2005 presentation by representatives of the Government of the United States, and the  13 May 2005 presentation by officials from the United Kingdom.

The briefing included presentations by Ambassador Ronald Mollinger, Ambassador-at-Large; and Jan Willem van den Wall Bake, Senior Coordinator, Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing and Head of the Dutch Delegation Financial Action Task Force, Ministry of Finance.  The Committee was informed in detail of current efforts by the Netherlands to implement the sanctions against Al-Qaida and the Taliban imposed by the Security Council under resolution 1267 (1999) and subsequent relevant resolutions.

The Committee appreciated the substantive information and clarifications provided by the representatives of the Netherlands.  Members of the Committee  find that this kind of dialogue and direct interaction with Member States can be a useful tool for further improving and enhancing effective sanctions implementation.  The Committee and its Chairman strongly encourage other States to benefit from the opportunity to meet with the Committee.  Those Member States interested in meeting with the Committee are encouraged to contact the Chairman’s office (Guillermo Kendall, e-mail gek@mrecic.gov.ar; fax: (212) 980-8395); and/or the Committee Secretariat (Tatiana Cosio, e-mail cosio@un.org; fax: (212) 963-1300).

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