SANAA EAC MEETING - 28 FEBRUARY 2004

S E C R E T SANAA 000448 SIPDIS NOFORN DS/DSS, DS/IP/NEA, DS/DSS/ITA, DS/ICI/PII, S/CT, NEA, NEA/ARP, NEA/EX, NEA/P, CA, CENTCOM FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2014 TAGS: ASEC AMGT PREL PTER YM EAC TERFIN SUBJECT: SANAA EAC MEETING - 28 FEBRUARY 2004 REF: A. SANAA 415 ¶B. HULL-WAYNE 2/25 E-MAIL ¶C. IIR 262238Z FEB 04 ¶D. SANAA 409 ¶E. 03 SANAA 2036 Classified By: DCM Alan G. Misenheimer, for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D) ¶1. (S/NF) Summary: The Ambassador convened an EAC meeting on February 28, 2004 to review security conditions for Embassy personnel and the general American community in light of muted public reaction to the terrorist financing designation of Sheikh Zindani (refs A and B) and recent threat reporting (ref C). EAC agreed that neither issue warranted immediate changes to Post's already stringent security posture. Note: No change to EAC's 2/25 decision to not issue a Warden Message was made. End Note. The EAC's pending request to the Department to authorize the return of minor dependents to Post was also discussed. Key offices and personnel represented included: AID, AMB, CONS, DAO, DCM, FPD, MSG, OMC, ORCA, PD, POL/ECON, SOCE-Yemen, and RSO. End Summary. -------------- Quiet Reaction to Designation of Zindani -------------- ¶2. (S/NF) EAC noted that ROYG, political party, general public and media reaction to the 2/24 designation of Zindani (refs A and B) remained low-key (details reported septel). Ambassador said muted ROYG reaction reflects President Saleh's stated desire to work with the U.S. and avoid turning this designation into a contentious issue similar to al-Moayed (ref E). RSO and PD noted that Friday mosque sermons were quiet. The official statement of Islah (Zindani's political party) placed the onus on the ROYG to refute any charges, and uncorroborated reports stated that Zindani canceled a press conference at Islah's request. EAC agreed that no changes in security posture were needed at this time but continued monitoring of the situation was warranted. -------------- Recent Threat Reporting -------------- ¶3. (S/NF) EAC agreed that threat reporting in Ref C also did not warrant change to Post's security posture because it did not indicate an imminent threat, did not contain planning specifics and, in ORCA's view, was not from a reliable source. -------------- Return of Minor Dependents -------------- ¶4. (S/NF) DCM said the Embassy's request to the Department for the return of minor dependents to Post (ref D) was under review in the Department. RSO noted that he had confirmed to DS that EAC had concurred on the request. The EAC remains unanimous in support of the request. HULL