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