LETTER FROM U/S JOSEPH TO CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR AL

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 004826 SIPDIS STATE FOR T, ISN, NEA/ARPI E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/27/2015 TAGS: MNUC PARM PREL AE SUBJECT: LETTER FROM U/S JOSEPH TO CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR AL SUWAIDI REF: SECSTATE 209792 Classified By: Classified by Ambassador Michele Sison for reasons 1.4 ( b &d). ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see para 4. ¶2. (C) On November 26, Ambassador met with Central Bank Governor Sultan Nasser Al-Suwaidi to pass him the text of U/S Joseph's letter on the legal basis for U.S. actions against the financiers of proliferation. Ambassador had previously taken advantage of an opportunity on the margins of the U.S.-UAE co-hosted "Advanced Financial Crimes Conference" to brief Deputy Governor Mohammed Al-Falasi on the letter. Al-Suwaidi thanked Ambassador for the letter and said that he looked forward to receiving the original signed copy and would prepare a response. ¶3. (C) Al-Suwaidi said that he appreciated receiving the text. He added, however, that the Central Bank only has the authority to freeze accounts for seven days. Beyond that, he explained, the Attorney General and the Ministry of Justice need to be brought in. He stressed that the Central Bank continues to freeze the assets related to the AQ Khan case, but noted that the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General would need to determine whether the opinion provided in the letter would provide sufficient legal justification to maintain the freeze. Ambassador explained to Al-Suwaidi that U/S Joseph had addressed his letter to Al-Suwaidi in response to his specific request, but offered to share the U/S Joseph letter and brief other senior UAEG officials as appropriate. ¶4. (C) Action Request: Please provide post with a signed copy of U/S Joseph's letter that we can provide to the Central Bank Governor. SISON