UN/1267 SANCTIONS: SEEKING GUIDANCE ON ALGERIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000451 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2018 TAGS: ETTC PREL EFIN KTFN PTER UNSC AG SUBJECT: UN/1267 SANCTIONS: SEEKING GUIDANCE ON ALGERIAN PROPOSAL TO DESIGNATE 4 AQIM INDIVIDUALS FOR SANCTIONS REF: A. MORRIS-CROWE EMAIL 5-16-08 ¶B. USUN 00313 ¶C. ALGIERS 00184 Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Molly Phee, for reasons 1.4 ( b) AND (d) ¶1. (C) This is an action request, please see paragraph 5. ¶2. (C) Algerian PolOff El Hadj Lamine informed USUN on May 14 of Algeria's intention to request the designation four individuals associated with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) for sanctions in the 1267 (al-Qaida/Taliban) Committee. Lamine provided a statement of case (in French; ref a) that alleges that the four individuals were involved in the kidnapping of two Austrian tourists in South Tunisia on February 22, 2008. AQIM, which is already designated by the 1267 Committee as an al-Qaida-associated terrorist organization, has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. Algeria intends to submit its request to the 1267 Committee in June, but is willing to work with USUN to coordinate a specific date that would allow the USG sufficient time to vet the names so that can we support the Algerian listing and are not forced to seek a technical delay in the Committee. Algeria has also notified the UK and France of its intention to seek sanctions on the four individuals. ¶3. (C) The individuals Algeria will propose for designation are: - DJOUADI Yahia, AKA a) Yahia Abou Ammar, b) Abou Ala; DOB: 01/01/1967. - HAMMADOU Abid, AKA a) Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, b) Youcef Adel, c) Abou Abdellah; DOB: 12/12/1965. - GASMI Salah, AKA a) Abou Mohamed Salah, b) Bounouadher; DOB: 04/13/1971. - DEGHDEGH Ahmed, AKA Abd El Illah; DOB: 01/17/1967. ¶4. (C) Comment: During a November 2007 meeting in Vienna with the heads of security services of several Maghreb states, the 1267 Monitoring Team--which tracks 1267 sanctions implementation in the field--conveyed the Committee's interest in seeing Algeria and its neighbors put forward new names for sanctions (ref b). Embassy Algiers echoed this request to the Algerian authorities in February 2008 (ref c), conveying USG willingness to support Algerian efforts to seek new 1267 sanctions on AQIM members. Embassy Algiers also requested that Algeria consult with us prior to formally seeking new sanctions. Given USG and 1267 Committee outreach to Algeria and to bolster Algeria,s confidence that the 1267 regime can serve its counter-terrorism goals, USUN recommends that the USG support, and if possible offer to co-sponsor, this request for sanctions. End Comment. ¶5. (C) Action Request: USUN seeks Department guidance on whether to support and offer co-sponsorship of the Algerian request for sanctions on four AQIM operatives, and on a suggested date in June for Algeria to formally submit its request to the 1267 Committee. Khalilzad