AMBASSADOR BLOOMFIELD, A/MINISTER BASSIM DISCUSS

S E C R E T CAIRO 000759 SIPDIS SIPDIS PM/WRA FOR PICO AND KUNST E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/13/2018 TAGS: MARR PREL PARM EG SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR BLOOMFIELD, A/MINISTER BASSIM DISCUSS COMBATING MANPADS REF: STATE 30482 Classified By: DCM Stuart Jones for reason 1.4 (b). ¶1. (S) Summary: Ambassador Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr., U.S. Special Envoy for Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS) Threat Reduction met April 2 with MFA Assistant Minister for Cabinet Affairs Ambassador Wafaa Bassim, Cabinet Director for Disarmament Omar Amr Youssef and Disarmament Director Ally Sirry. DCM, POLOFF (notetaker),and PM advisors Stephanie Pico and Michael Kunst joined Ambassador Bloomfield. Ambassador Bloomfield briefed on current USG efforts to combat MANPADS proliferation and described his engagement with the political leadership in countries such as Yemen, Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said he is interested in the GOE's advice on USG efforts to combat MANPADS in the Horn of Africa and on the Arabian Peninsula. At Ambassador Bassim's request, Ambassador Bloomfield described in general terms the USG,s MANPADS engagement with President Saleh in Yemen dating to 2004. Ambassador Bloomfield said that, if requested, a Transportation Security Agency (TSA) team would be able to provide a MANPADS Assist Visit (MAV) in order to help protect civil aviation in Egypt. End summary. ¶2. (S) Ambassador Bloomfield described his mission and his work to date to combat MANPADS proliferation in Bosnia, the Horn of Africa, Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan. He said that after working to destroy over twenty-four thousand MANPADS worldwide since 2003, the USG decided that senior-level political engagement would be necessary to bolster this effort. Ambassador Bloomfield said that he wants Egypt to be aware of the USG,s MANPADS efforts in the Arab world and in Africa. ¶3. (S) Ambassador Bloomfield explained that he is interested in the GOE's views regarding U.S. activities to combat MANPADS proliferation in the Horn of Africa, including U.S. efforts to protect civil aviation. He explained that the USG's counter-MANPADS efforts address various aspects related to MANPADS, including the safeguarding of civil aviation. As an example, he explained that in Addis Ababa, he met with the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, which recently purchased ten new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, to discuss how U.S. government experts can provide airport security assistance and safeguard against a MANPADS attack. He said that the TSA offers such surveys worldwide, but in particular to airports where U.S. airlines make direct connections. He said the TSA would be able to provide a MANPADS Assist Visit (MAV) for Egypt if the GOE is interested. ¶4. (S) Ambassador Bloomfield briefed Ambassador Bassim on the global MANPADS threat. He said that the greatest danger to civil aviation occurs when non-state actors, such as terrorist groups, have access to MANPADS through corrupt military officials or in chaotic political-military environments, such as Somalia. Of the approximately six thousand MANPADS currently in the hands of non-state actors, roughly half of them exist in Iraq, and about ten to fifteen percent in the Horn of Africa. Ambassador Bloomfield said that the U.S. is also concerned with the Balkans where Macedonian, Albanian and Kosovar elements have been acquiring MANPADS on the black market. ¶5. (S) At Ambassador Bassim's request, Ambassador Bloomfield and PM Advisor Kunst described U.S. efforts against MANPADS proliferation in Yemen dating to 2004. Ambassador Bloomfield said that he has worked directly with President Saleh on this issue, and that the Yemeni Government has been collecting MANPADS for destruction by the U.S. in cooperation with various tribal elements. Ambassador Bloomfield and Kunst noted that residual MANPADS stocks from Yemen's civil war in 1994 have flowed into Somalia and represent a danger to civil aviation in the Horn of Africa region. Ambassador Bloomfield responded to Ambassador Bassim's question regarding MANPADS in Lebanon by saying that the U.S. has discovered a few dozen of the weapons there. Ambassador Bloomfield also said that Iran has supplied Hizballah with MANPADS. ¶6. (S) PM Advisor Stephanie Pico described the USG interagency process regarding MANPADS. She said that United Nations General Assembly Resolutions on MANPADS in 2005 and 2007 called for strengthening export controls, banning transfers to non-state actors and destroying excess stocks. Pico said that a Summer 2008 seminar in Kigali run by the Regional Center on Small Arms and Light Weapons (RECSA),an African NGO, and sponsored by the USG, will build on similar multilateral efforts at the OSCE, OAS, APEC and Wassenaar. Ambassador Bassim said that Egypt values dialogue on small arms issues in United Nations disarmament fora. In conclusion, Pico passed Ambassador Bassim an Arabic language non-paper on the "MANPADS Assist Visit Program," a civil aviation security program administered by the TSA (reftel). Ambassador Bassim said she and her staff would review the non-paper. ¶7. (U) Ambassador Bloomfield has cleared this cable. RICCIARDONE