ALGERIAN MFA PROFESSES SUPPORT FOR UNSCR 1803 IRAN

UNCLAS ALGIERS 000551 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN AORC ETRD TRGY KNNP UNSC IR AG SUBJECT: ALGERIAN MFA PROFESSES SUPPORT FOR UNSCR 1803 IRAN SANCTIONS REF: A. STATE 048615 ¶B. STATE 21770 ¶1. In response to ref A demarche, MFA Deputy Director for Multilateral Affairs Abdelmalek Bouheddou told us on May 13 that Algeria was committed to playing its part in implementing the sanctions outlined in UNSCR 1803. He stressed that Algeria "takes UN resolutions very seriously" and appreciated hearing the steps taken by the U.S. as outlined in our 60-day voluntary compliance report (a copy of which we provided to him). ¶2. By way of explanation, Bouheddou described the process by which the Algerian government took action on UNSCR 1803. He said that when the resolution was transmitted from the UN to the MFA, the MFA tasked out action to concerned ministries and organizations -- the Interior Ministry, Ministry of Justice, Customs, Gendarmerie and others. This internal implementation portion of UNSCR 1803, he said, was done promptly in March. Given the slow response time of other Algerian ministries to the MFA and the volume of reports the MFA is asked to produce, Bouheddou said that Algeria had not filed a 60-day compliance report of its own, but he assured us that the provisions of the resolution had been transmitted to all relevant agencies in the Algerian government. FORD