DJIBOUTI SECURITY CHIEF SEEKS ADDED

S E C R E T DJIBOUTI 000660

SIPDIS

NOFORN

STATE FOR AF AND AF/E,
STATE ALSO FOR DS/DSS/IP, DS/IP/AF, AND DS/IP/ITA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2014
TAGS: PREL ASEC EAIR PTER ABLD DJ
SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI SECURITY CHIEF SEEKS ADDED
COUNTER-TERRORISM SUPPORT

Classified By: AMBASSADOR MARGUERITA D. RAGSDALE.
REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D).


1. (S) Ambassador, accompanied by RAO, paid a courtesy call
on Hassan Said Khaireh, Chief of National Security Services,
and his Deputy, Abdillahi Mohamed Abdillahi, on May 4 at the
Presidency. She began the meeting by thanking the two for
their support in the global war on terrorism. She stressed
the importance of continuing U.S.-Djibouti cooperation in
this area, and praised the warm relations her two
interlocutors had with RAO. Hassan Said thanked the
Ambassador and recalled the events of September 11 and their
role in enhancing this cooperation. He pledged that the
relations Ambassador described would continue.


2. (C) Said noted ongoing efforts of his government to
protect its borders and appreciated training opportunities
offered through the U.S. Anti-terrorism Assistance (ATA)
program. He expressed special concern, however, about the
nation's ability to guard against smuggling via air routes,
especially flights originating from Hargeisa in Somaliland
and from Mogadishu. Said stated that the weak area was in
the large volume of baggage coming into Djibouti on these
flights and insufficient capacity to inspect them. He said
he believed x-ray equipment could assist in this area. He
explained that none of the flights which come into Djibouti
or depart from Djibouti have adequate procedures for baggage
examination. An x-ray exists for checking of large bags on
arrival at the airport and a second x-ray for hand luggage
once well inside the terminal building and just prior to
movement to airport gates. He stated that another was needed
to provide a closer look at luggage and other items arriving
into Djibouti, especially from Somaliland and Somalia.


3. (C) Ambassador said she would look into the need he
described and get back to him on whether assistance in this
realm is possible. She told Said that she was aware that
additional funds had been allocated to Djibouti for a Safe
Skies program and believed that the program may include
airborne safety aspects as well as ground safety aspects.
Perhaps, she said, there may be a way to fold in to the Safe
Skies program the equipment he described. There will be
further opportunities to discuss the Safe Skies program,
Ambassador said, when Abdillahi attends the Department of
Transportation and Transportation Security Administration
conference September 22-24 in Johannesburg as part of
Djibouti's delegation.


4. (C) Ambassador expressed appreciation for the
contributions Djibouti made to the dialogue at the recent
EACTI conference in Kampala and said that she understood
Djibouti had been a "star" at the conference. Abdillahi who
had been one of Djibouti's four representatives there,
expressed pleasure at this perception and said he found the
conference very useful. He stated that Djibouti had a more
critical role to play because of its direct involvement in
many of the issues brought out in the conference. Ethiopia,
for example, was more narrowly focused on insurgency groups
such as the OLF vice true terrorist organizations.


5. (C) Abdillahi took the opportunity of the Ambassador's
call to raise the disposition of the vacant building across
the street from the Embassy. The building had been largely
emptied by Security Services after September 2001, in support
of security measures for Embassy Djibouti. Djibouti's
government had asked the Embassy on earlier occasions if the
U.S. would be interested in purchasing the building.
Ambassador told Abdillahi that she would be pleased to raise
the building's disposition with Washington, but that she
would first require a specific proposal from the Government
of Djibouti. If the proposal is for sale of the building,
for example, it should include price and other particulars.
She noted her concerns, however, about the condition of the
building and the potential problem posed by the building
having several owners. Hassan Said and Abdillahi responded
that the Minister of Finance was working on such a proposal.
RAGSDALE