ARAB LEAGUE BOYCOTT MEETING BLACKLISTS MERRILL

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 001123 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/RA E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2017 TAGS: AL ECON KBCT PHUM SY SUBJECT: ARAB LEAGUE BOYCOTT MEETING BLACKLISTS MERRILL LYNCH REF: DAMASCUS 409 Classified By: Pol/Econ Counselor Timothy J. Pounds for reasons 1.4 b/d ¶1. (U) Summary. The semi-annual meeting of the Arab League Boycott group was held November 5-7 in Damascus. Participation and results followed expectations and closely paralleled last April,s gathering (reftel). One U.S. company, Merrill Lynch, and three unnamed European companies were officially blacklisted. End Summary. ¶2. (U) The semi-annual meeting of the Damascus-based Arab League Boycott Office (ALBO) was held November 5-7. According to local media reports, diplomats and/or representatives from Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Mauritania and the Palestinian Authority attended the meeting. The Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) were also represented. ¶3. (C) According to Muhammad al Ajami, head of the Syrian Regional Office for the Boycott of Israel, one U.S. company, Merrill Lynch, was added to the ALBO blacklist. Ajami said that one German, one Swiss and one British company were also blacklisted, although he demurred from revealing the names of the European companies. ¶4. (C) Comment. The blacklisting of Merrill Lynch was expected, as the financial services company had been named to ALBO's watchlist in April. CORBIN