UAE SEEKING US PARTICIPATION FOR THE 4TH

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 004476 SIPDIS TREASURY FOR U/S LEVEY, A/S POBRIEN, DAS DGLASER, RLOEFFLER FINCEN FOR WLANGFORD STATE FOR NEA/IR, NEA/ARP RTAGGART, DBAGWELL OFAC FOR ASZUBIN, WLANGFORD FBI FOR TFOS MMOREHART, FWAIKHART DHS FOR MMIDDLETON, JGALLION E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PREL KTFN AE SUBJECT: UAE SEEKING US PARTICIPATION FOR THE 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HAWALAS IN ABU DHABI MARCH 18-20, 2007 ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paras 5-6 ¶2. (U) The UAE Central Bank informed Post that they are planning to hold their 4th international Conference on Hawalas in Abu Dhabi on March 18-20, 2007. Abdulrahim Al Awadi, head of the Anti-Money Laundering and Suspicious Cases Unit (AMLSCU),the UAE,s financial intelligence unit, informed post that the UAE would greatly appreciate USG participation in this conference. Al Awadi said that for the 4th Hawalas conference they wish to &expand the scope8 of the conference and get some &different perspectives8 on the hawalas issue. He was not specific on these different perspectives, but mentioned an interest in learning about new laws or regulations, efforts to monitor or other developments regarding hawalas. ¶3. (U) The UAE also requested USG assistance in identifying other non-USG regional or international individuals or organizations active in the area of hawalas and could be requested to speak at the conference. ¶4. (U) The UAE is preparing a formal brochure for the conference and would like to know the names and subjects that would be covered by any speakers coming to the conference by early January 2007 or as quickly as possible. The UAE has offered to pay air travel and lodging for anyone who will come and speak at the conference. The conference will be free to attend and the Central Bank has welcomes as much participation as possible. ¶5. (U) Action Request. Post requests interagency input on which USG officials would be willing to submit papers and speak at the conference. One suggestion Post recommends would be to ask the Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agents who investigated, or the US Attorney Stephen J. Murphy who recently prosecuted, a hawalas case in the Eastern District of Michigan to speak on their case. Additionally, Post would like to know preliminarily which agencies may come to participate in the conference. Please forward any information about possible speakers and participants to Jason Beal ) bealj@state.gov. ¶6. (U) Action Request. Post requests assistance in identifying any non-USG regional or international organizations or persons who may offer valuable perspectives to this conference. Please forward any information about possible speakers to Jason Beal ) bealj@state.gov. QUINN