YEMEN'S CTU SHOWS OFF VIDEO OF JANUARY RAID

S E C R E T SANAA 000223 SIPDIS FOR NEA/ARP:AMACDONALD E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/07/2019 TAGS: PREL PTER PINS YM SUBJECT: YEMEN'S CTU SHOWS OFF VIDEO OF JANUARY RAID Classified By: DCM Angie Bryan for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Saying that the CTU is "completely transparent" with its partners, Commander of the Counter-terrorism Unit (CTU) of the Central Security Forces Colonel AbdulRahman al-Miweeti invited British, French, and American security officers to view a video of the CTU's January 19 raid on a suspected al-Qaeda cell in Sana'a. The seven minute video of the raid showed one suspect surrender and the remains of two others killed. Another man fled the scene. According to Colonel al-Miweeti, the raid was not perfect, but the CTU was able to react within two hours after the suspects moved to a new house, and the quick-reaction force adjusted tactics after noticing that the suspects were wearing suicide-belts. ¶2. (S) Colonel al-Miweeti answered questions following the screening frankly. The raid occurred less than four kilometers from Sana'a International Airport, he reported. He said that he is "not authorized by the Minister of Interior" to provide the Embassies with either a copy of the video or records from the interrogation of the surrendered suspect. "If it was up to me," he said, "you would already have it." ¶3. (S) According to CTU liaison officer Major Osama Mohammed Abdurabu, the CTU was previously involved in the investigations of raids but the Ministry of Interior has since revoked this practice. The Forensics Lab now has jurisdiction over investigations. Head of the Forensics Lab, General Hamadani, told Legatt that the Minister of Interior has classified both the report from the January 19 CTU raid and the report from the September 17 attack on the US Embassy because it is an "ongoing investigation." General Hamadani complained that his hands were tied and stated, "You should have the report on the attack on your own Embassy." ¶4. (C) COMMENT. An important benefit of cooperation with the CTU is the organization's eagerness to appear fully transparent with its donor partners, often in contrast to other Ministry of Interior entities. Additional support for the CTU will enhance not only the ROYG's counter-terrorism capabilities, but also our own ability to obtain accurate information on these efforts. END COMMENT. SECHE