ATTACK ON HUNT PIPELINE: FURTHER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 002338 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/17/2013 TAGS: PTER ASEC YM COUNTER TERRORISM ENERGY DOMESTIC POLITICS SUBJECT: ATTACK ON HUNT PIPELINE: FURTHER INFORMATION/ANALYSIS REF: SANAA 02336 Classified By: Ambassador Edmund J.Hull, Reasons 1.5(b and d) ¶1. (C) Hunt Oil director Karim Abuhamad provided Ambassador September 15 further information and his assessment of recent attack on Hunt Oil pipeline (reftel). Abuhamad who has long experience in Yemen and with the pipeline, noted the attack was extremely sophisticated in that the saboteurs picked the point of greatest vulnerability, i.e., the lowest point in the region. This location meant the pipeline was under maximum pressure at the point of attack and Hunt repair teams required a prolonged period to decrease the pipeline pressure to permit repairs. The charge itself was buried eight feet underground and represented considerable effort on the part of the saboteurs. ¶2. (C) Abuhamad believes saboteurs were from the Zayidi clan of the Jahm tribe. He noted that the Yemeni government has recently detained significant numbers of this clan as a result of altercations between security forces and the clan in Sana'a. The Zayidi are using this attack to embarrass President Saleh, Abuhamad said, and further attacks are expected by Hunt. Three individuals have been detained as suspects, but Abuhamad did not know if they were involved in the attack. ¶3. (C) COMMENT: The Zayidi clan have embarrassed President Saleh previously, for example by kidnapping a German national in December 2001 while President Saleh was visiting Berlin. HULL