AMBASSADOR UPDATES MOI ON PISCES AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 003027

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2010
TAGS: PREL ACOA KHLS YM
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR UPDATES MOI ON PISCES AND
FINGERPRINTING PROGRAMS; SEEKS HELP IN CLEARING RADIOS FROM
CUSTOMS

Classified By: AMBASSADOR THOMAS C. KRAJESKI, FOR REASON 1.4 (B) AND (D
).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Ambassador informed MinInt Rashad al-Alimi
on October 17 that a team from Washington would visit Yemen
in the next few weeks to update the ROYG's PISCES system, and
that an FBI team would come to provide training and equipment
for a national fingerprint database in the next several
months. Ambassador also asked Alimi for assistance in
clearing Embassy radios and transmitter equipment, some of
which has been blocked by customs authorities at the Sanaa
airport for a year. END SUMMARY


2. (C) Ambassador updated Alimi on the USG's plans for
updating Yemen's PISCES border control system, noting that a
team from Washington would come to Yemen in November to
provide critical software updates. He also told Alimi that
an FBI team would visit in the next several months in order
to provide more equipment and training for the ROYG's future
national fingerprint database. Alimi said he was pleased
with USG-ROYG cooperation on these programs and thanked the
Ambassador for the "good news."


3. (C) Ambassador also asked Alimi for assistance in
clearing Embassy radios and transmitter equipment from
airport customs authorities. The radios and equipment will
be used for emergency communications only, he said, adding
that the Embassy could even share some of the radios with the
security forces responsible for protecting the Embassy and
its staff. This way, Embassy officials and Yemeni security
forces could have reliable and close contact during a crisis,
even if fixed and mobile telephone networks were unavailable.
Alimi responded that he recognized that walkie-talkie
technology was "available to anyone" in developed countries,
but that "immature countries" such as Yemen still had
sensitivities about portable radios. He noted that, in
addition to several embassies in Sanaa, Yemen's mobile phone
companies had also applied for permission to use portable
radios. It is the ROYG's intention, he said, to come up with
a comprehensive policy to allow for and regulate the use of
portable radios "very soon." Alimi claimed that there would
be an interagency meeting on the issue on the night of
October 17, and that he may have an answer on this issue "as
early as next week."


4. (C) COMMENT: Post does not believe that Alimi will have
a positive answer for us by next week. We will continue
pressing the issue with relevant officials. ROYG security
officials are clearly hesitant to permit the use of
communications technology without the means to monitor it.
We are optimistic that once they have monitoring resources in
place, permission to use portable radios and related
equipment will be forthcoming.
Krajeski