DEMARCHE OF YEMENI MFA OFFICIAL ON PSI BACKGROUND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 002487 SIPDIS PASS TO NP AND T E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/2013 TAGS: MNUC PARM PREL PHSA PBTS EAIR EWWT KNNP DEMARCHE SUBJECT: DEMARCHE OF YEMENI MFA OFFICIAL ON PSI BACKGROUND AND POINTS REF: A. STATE 254587 ¶B. SANAA 2260 ¶C. STATE 262197 Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Alan G. Misenheimer for reasons 1.5 (b and d) ¶1. (c) On October 12, Pol/Econ Chief met with Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director of the Americas Office Abdulsalem Qassim al-Awadhi to re-deliver and discuss the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) Statement of Interdiction Principles (refs a and b) and to review the questions and answers in reftel c. Pol/Econoff reiterated the U.S. request for support for the initiative and feedback on the ROYG's views on how such principles could be incorporated into existing counter-terrorism efforts, as well as whether there are concerns about whether Yemen's domestic laws can support the initiative. Al-Awadhi assured Pol/Econoff that he had passed the information on the initiative delivered September 9 (ref b) to the responsible parties in the foreign minister's office, the prime ministry, and the presidency. He said he expected a request for recommendations from his office, and that he did not see any obvious problems with supporting the initiative. ¶2. (c) Al-Awadhi was not aware of the letter the UK Ambassador to Yemen recently forwarded to FM Qirbi on the PSI, but said that his office would coordinate with the Office of European Affairs on a response, if necessary. He was unable to provide a timeline for a substantive response. ¶3. (c) Comment: Director al-Awadhi gave the impression that a response on the PSI was unlikely to come from his office, but needed to be addressed at a much higher level. From the conversation, it was clear that while al-Awadhi might be comfortable with the general approach of the PSI, he is not familiar enough with Yemeni law on the subject to speak to its compatibility with the initiative. End comment. HULL