SOME POSITIVE SIGNS ON AVIATION SECURITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DOHA 000698 SIPDIS EMBASSY AMMAN FOR TSAR BRYANT CHEVALIER EMBASSY ABU DHABI FOR FAA AND ICE CONSUL GENERAL FRANKFURT FOR TSA STATE DEPARTMENT FOR EEB JOHN BYERLY AND BRIAN SILER STATE DEPARTMENT FOR DS, DSS, DS/T/ATA AND DS/IP E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2019 TAGS: EAIR ASEC QA SUBJECT: SOME POSITIVE SIGNS ON AVIATION SECURITY Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Mirembe L. Nantongo, for reasons 1.4 (b, d). -------------- (C) KEY POINTS -------------- -- TSA Deputy Director Victoria Reeder told GOQ officials November 17 that TSA personnel continue to observe improvements in the screening of passengers on U.S.-bound flights from Doha International Airport. -- If these improvements are sustained over time, Reeder said, provisions of the Doha-specific Emergency Amendment currently in effect could be adjusted, subject to the approval of the TSA Administrator. -- Reeder indicated TSA's desire to conduct another airport assessment in January or February to document that improvements witnessed to date are being sustained. -- The Chairman of the Qatar Civil Aviation Administration responded by seeking permission from TSA, which Reeder readily granted, for Qatari inspectors to observe operations at the U.S. airports served by Qatar Airways. -- The TSA delegation was offered, and accepted, a tour of the new airport construction site and meetings with the consultant responsible for designing security systems for the site. -- Taking advantage of the presence of senior Ministry of Interior personnel, the Civil Aviation Administration noted the expected need for a "ten-fold" increase in airport security personnel (provided by MOI) at the new airport, once it opens. -------------- (C) COMMENTS -------------- -- Qatar aviation officials clearly would like to see the Doha-specific Emergency Amendment lifted, and on the margins of official meetings often seek to exchange greater access for TSA personnel for a loosening of the Amendment's requirements. -- If TSA personnel can continue to measure sustained good performance at security checkpoints, TSA is set to amend the current requirements. The trick will be getting the Qataris to see enough light at the end of the tunnel to allow the assessments to go forward. -- As Qatar moves to open the new international airport, we assess it unlikely that MOI will be able to employ enough trained security personnel to meet the higher demand for their services. Qatar Airways would be happy to turn security screening over to private companies meeting TSA standards, but MOI resists. Finding a face-saving solution for MOI will remain a challenge. End Key Points and Comments. ¶1. (C) In a November 17 meeting hosted by Major General Saad Al-Khulaifi of the Ministry of Interior (MOI),TSA Deputy Director of International Operations in the Office of Global Strategies Victoria Reeder noted that TSA personnel observing passenger boarding that morning on Qatar Airways flights to the U.S. found "improvements" in security at the boarding gate check points since TSA's last assessment in March. Over the course of the two years that TSA has inspected Doha International Airport flight operations, she added that "vast improvements" had been observed. Reeder was joined at the meeting on the U.S. side by TSA representatives Anthony Monreal and Bryant Chevalier and by DCM Nantongo, RSO Conord, P/E Chief Rice, and Econoff Wahlstrom. On the Qatari side, Major General Saad was joined by Chairman of the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority Abdulaziz Al-Noaimi; his security advisor, Ian Gilchrist; Head of Security for Qatar Airways Chris Murphy; and head of MOI airport security Brigadier General Nasser Al-Malki. DOHA 00000698 002 OF 003 ¶2. (C) Despite the progress TSA personnel have recorded to date, Reeder made clear that improvements in security measures must be sustained over time in order for TSA to lift the Doha-specific Emergency Amendment (requiring intensive searches of each passenger). That said, she noted that the progress made to date is all the more impressive given that Qatar Airways has over a two-year period tripled its flights to the U.S. (Note: there are now three direct flights from Doha to Washington-Dulles, New York (JFK) and Houston.) To ensure sustained progress, Reeder asked that TSA personnel be allowed to return in three months to monitor continued progress. ¶3. (C) Al-Noaimi thanked Reeder for her visit and stressed that Qatar would not compromise on security and safety. He asked Reeder for permission for Qatari inspectors "to audit your airports as you audit ours." Qatar needed to make sure security of its national airline is not compromised, he said. ¶4. (C) Reeder said TSA was happy to facilitate visits and observations by Qatar's inspectors to the airports to which Qatar Airways flies. She invited the inspectors to observe "all aspects of airline and off-site security." Al-Noaimi responded that the Qatari inspectors would require access only to the "last point of departure." -------------- --- STATUS OF NEW FACILITY FOR U.S.-BOUND PASSENGERS -------------- --- ¶5. (C) Gilchrist reported that Qatar Airways and the Airport, in consultation with the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority, had not taken a decision on opening and utilizing a new facility, whose construction is nearly completed, that could be used to segregate U.S.-bound passengers from others. He invited TSA to give its input before this decision is made. Al-Noaimi expressed concern that utilizing the new facility would result in less passenger comfort. "There needs to be balance between security and passenger comfort," he said. ¶6. (C) Major General Al-Khulaifi, learning from Al-Noaimi that Qatar Airways would next launch a fourth direct flight to the U.S., serving Los Angeles, observed that he found the security at Los Angeles International Airport during his recent trip to be well organized and respectful of passengers. He implied that similar procedures, if applied in Doha, would provide an acceptable balance between security and passenger comfort. ¶7. (C) Asked by DCM Nantongo for the timeline for a decision to open the new facility for U.S.-bound passengers, Gilchrist said the decision could only be taken after a trial run of passengers through the new facility was organized. He emphasized that officials involved in the decision on the Qatari side did not want to make any trial runs without first consulting TSA. He said the soonest trials could begin was likely mid-December. -------------- NEXT ASSESSMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) Reeder suggested that TSA personnel return in January or February. Even if the new facility is not open, sustained improvements in passenger processing in the current facility could allow TSA to revise the requirements of the Doha-specific Emergency Amendment, making them less demanding. She said based on the current assessment alone it likely would be possible to make "significant changes" to the screening of "excessive property at the gate." Any changes based on this visit or the next, though, would have to be approved by the Administrator of TSA and based on continued, sustained good performance at security checkpoints. -------------- DEFICIT OF TRAINED SCREENERS -------------- ¶9. (C) Gilchrist took advantage of Major General DOHA 00000698 003 OF 003 Al-Khulaifi's presence to note that the Civil Aviation Authority had requested 30 percent more MOI staff at the airport to address current needs and would need even more personnel as airport operations expanded. Noting there are 700 total security personnel at the airport, 130 of whom are screeners, Gilchrist said the airport needs 170 to 180 screeners in the near term. He added that the new airport, once opened, would require a ten-fold increase in screeners. Al-Noaimi, following his security advisor's lead, said he would soon submit to MOI a needs assessment that would allow MOI sufficient time to recruit and train the additional personnel. ¶10. (C) At meeting's end, Al-Noaimi offered a tour of the new airport construction site to the TSA delegation and asked them to meet with Control Risk, the UK security consultant designing the security for the new facility. TSA readily accepted. ¶11. (U) The TSA delegation has cleared this message. LeBaron