EU counselor Onno Simmons is quoted in a US Embassy cable reported by the Romanian version of HotNews.ro as warning that some sources allegedly said that there was an agreement between certain Arab groups and Romania’s government to let them launder money in Romania to avoid attacks on Romanian targets. The cable is not dated but the context reveals that it relates to events in 2006.

The cable reads about a G8 Counter Terrorism Action Group meeting hosted by the Russian Embassy in which the EU counsellor Onno Simmons proposed the idea that Mafia was playing a damaging and secret role in Romania.

He suggested, according to the cable, that organized crime in Romania might be so well organized that it is no need for them to shoot themselves. He said, as quoted by the cable, that EU did not have clear information on this topic for the moment but said that organized crime groups in Romania were under the radar and were secretly and illegally work with government officials.

During talks, Simmons admitted that he has no evidence for what he claimed suggesting that his US colleagues might have more information.

Read the info from the cable on the Romanian version of HotNews.rohere.