CHARGE DELIVERS BULGARIA YEMEN MANPADS DEMARCHE

S E C R E T SANAA 001965 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/11/2014 TAGS: ETTC PARM PREL YM DEMARCHE SUBJECT: CHARGE DELIVERS BULGARIA YEMEN MANPADS DEMARCHE REF: A. STATE 169075 ¶B. SANAA 1316 ¶C. 03 SANAA 3010 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Nabeel Khoury; reasons 1.5 (b),(d). ¶1. (S) Summary. Charge delivered reftel demarche to Yemeni Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense on August 11. Both denied the ROYG was engaged in, or had any information about an illicit third-party arms deal for Bulgarian SA-14 MANPADS. End Summary. ¶2. (S) Charge delivered reftel demarche to Yemeni Foreign Minister al-Qirby and Defense Minister Alaiwa. He emphasized that the possibility of such a deal was particularly troubling, in anticipation of A/S Bloomfield's visit to Yemen to discuss U.S. assistance in buyback and destruction of these weapons. The Defense Minister denied any knowledge of the deal. Al-Alaiwa asked Charge if we knew the name of the middleman involved, and could we please pass on the information? ¶3. (S) Comment: On several occasions, MFA reps mentioned to USG officials FM Qirby's decision to inform Yemen's embassies abroad of the cancellation of previously issued end-user certificates for weapons imports and Saleh's initiatives to impose new restrictions on purchases, refs b and c. How the ROYG handles this issue in upcoming talks will A/S Bloomfield will be indicative of the serious of its expressed intent to stem the smuggling of weapons in and of Yemen. End Comment. KRAJESKI