UN/1267 SANCTIONS: USUN SEEKING GUIDANCE ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000666 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/13/2017 TAGS: AL ETTC PREL EFIN KTFN PTER UNSC SUBJECT: UN/1267 SANCTIONS: USUN SEEKING GUIDANCE ON ALGERIAN LISTING REQUEST Classified By: DEPUTY POLITICAL COUNSELOR MARY C. PHEE, FOR REASONS: 1. 4(B) AND (D) ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paragraph 3. ¶2. (C) During an August 13 meeting with Algerian PermRep Youcef Yousfi, USUN Ambassador Jackie Sanders raised the Algerian Mission's August 3 request to the Al-Qaeda/Taliban Sanctions Committee to designate for targeted sanctions Abdelmalek Droukdel, who the Algerians have identified as a member of the Organization of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Ambassador Yousfi stated bluntly that he did not understand the U.S. position. Ambassador Sanders thanked Ambassador Yousfi for submitting the request, which the United States welcomed, and explained that due to the high level of evidence needed by Washington to support any request for listing at the UN, the United States needed additional time to gather further information on Droukdel, and USUN had accordingly been instructed to place a "technical" hold on the request. Ambassador Sanders pledged that USUN would work closely with the Mission of Algeria to assist it in assembling the information Washington would need to support the request. Ambassadors Yousfi and Sanders agreed that their delegations would consult earlier on such designation requests in the future. ¶3. (C) Comment and action request: Both the United States and the Al-Qaeda/Taliban Sanctions Committee have recently encouraged Algeria, among others, to submit listing and de-listing requests in an effort to keep the 1267 consolidated list current. USUN's hold on the Droukdel request has visibly frustrated the Algerians, who feel that they have received mixed messages--first pressure to support the 1267 process and then, to their eyes, inexplicable U.S. action to block the Algerian effort. In order not to discourage future designation requests from Algeria, USUN will need to engage promptly on specifics. USUN seeks Department guidance on what further information we should solicit from the Government of Algeria in order to enable the USG to assess the GOA's request to designate Abdelmalek Droukdel for sanctions in the Al-Qaeda/Taliban Committee, as well as an estimated time-frame of how long it will take to conduct our internal evaluation once that information is received. KHALILZAD