IN LIGHT OF NEW SECURITY THREATS, ROYG PROMISES TO

S E C R E T SANAA 001991


FOR NEA/ARP AMACDONALD
FOR DS/IP/NEA PORR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/13/2018
TAGS: PTER ASEC PINS MOPS YM
SUBJECT: IN LIGHT OF NEW SECURITY THREATS, ROYG PROMISES TO
HELP GUARD SHERATON AGAINST MUMBAI-STYLE ATTACK

REF: A. SANAA 1976

B. SANAA 1947

Classified By: Ambassador Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (S) During a December 13 meeting at the Ministry of the
Interior (MOI),the Ambassador broached recent security
concerns with Minister of Interior Rashad al-Masri. The
Minister assured the Ambassador that the ROYG was taking all
threats against Western interests, including the U.S. Embassy
and the Sheraton Hotel, "very seriously" and that he was
"personally paying a great deal of attention" to security at
the Sheraton (reftel A). In response to the Ambassador's
concerns regarding a Mumbai-style attack on the hotel,
al-Masri promised to send a leadership team from the MOI to
investigate any weaknesses in the Sheraton's existing
security and report on them. The Minister, who seemed
well-versed in the recent threat information, said that the
MOI was investigating the threats and that early reports
indicated they were coming from outside of Yemen. Al-Masri
suggested that the RSO accompany MOI teams on their
inspections at the Sheraton.


2. (S) The Ambassador and al-Masri also discussed propspects
of U.S. support for new Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU) elements
the Minister has proposed to create in the governorates of
Abyan, Marib, Shebwah and Hadramout, an idea which the
Minister also raised with Ambassador Dailey and General
Petraeus during their recent visits to Sana'a (reftel B). The
Ambassador noted ongoing communications regarding a plan for
the U.S. and British governments to collaborate on a proposal
for training and support of up to 200 CTU soldiers. The
Minister emphasized the need to have locally positioned units
able to move quickly on actionable intelligence, and said
that the Central Security Forces (CSF) were ready to select
personnel for training.


SECHE