YEMEN ATTEMPTS TO SEIZE REGIONAL ANTI-PIRACY LEAD

S E C R E T SANAA 000068 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/ARP:AMACDONALD, OES/OA:GO'BRIEN, PM/PPA:DGLANCY EMBASSY LONDON FOR KSANCHEZ E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2019 TAGS: EWWT PREL PTER MCAP YM SUBJECT: YEMEN ATTEMPTS TO SEIZE REGIONAL ANTI-PIRACY LEAD Classified By: Ambassador Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) SUMMARY. The Yemen Coast Guard (YCG) is expected to use a regional anti-piracy conference next month to announce its expanding operations and to solicit assistance from Yemen's deep-pocket Gulf neighbors. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Despite its lack of deep-water capabilities, the YCG is attempting to expand its anti-piracy operations. Director of Operations for the YCG, Commander Shugaa al-Mahdi, told Poloff that the YCG has recently begun placing armed protection personnel on merchant ships traveling through Yemeni coastal waters. He said that the YCG has successfully completed five missions and there are two additional pending requests for escorts. Al-Mahdi explained that they are still working out the details of the program, such as where exactly the YCG personnel would embark and disembark the merchant ships. ¶3. (S) The YCG will announce its expanded operations during a UK-led regional anti-piracy conference in Sana'a in February attended by Yemen's neighbors, including several wealthy Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members. This is the same conference that the UK canceled at the last-minute in November 2008 after the Ministry of Interior (MOI) refused to send out invitations in time to allow for proper security preparations. Director of Public Relations for the YCG, Major Amen al-Ansi, told Poloff on January 12 that although invitations for February should be sent out shortly, the YCG lost much of its autonomy when Minister of Interior Mutahar al-Masri was appointed in May 2008. Shortly after taking office, said al-Ansi, al-Masri attempted to remove General Rasaa from his position as Chairman because of his close ties to the Americans and British. According to al-Ansi, Rasaa was able to use his political ties with highly connected ROYG officials to secure his position and push forward with a new conference. ¶4. (S) While the YCG is working with the MOI to ensure the success of the conference, the proposed agenda contains no mention of the role of the Yemeni Navy (YNAV) in combating piracy. Currently, the YNAV is the only force in Yemen with deep-water boats, but it lacks the training, maintenance, or professionalism to utilize this resource properly. In December the Minister of Defense transferred the YNAV Commander's Office to Sana'a from Hodeidah. (Comment. Contacts at the Ministry of Defense and the YCG told Emboffs that the move is an attempt by the Minister to more closely watch the YNAV Commander because of the recent rumors that the YNAV is colluding with pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Post has not been able to confirm these rumors. End comment.) ¶5. (C) COMMENT. Due to its geographical location, Yemen will have a high stake in the outcome of both the January 14 inaugural meeting of the Contact Group on Somali Piracy and the late January International Maritime Organization conference in Djibouti. The UK-led regional conference in February, however, will be a unique opportunity for the YCG to showcase its willingness, both to the MOI and its neighbors, to lead anti-piracy efforts. It may also prove an important opportunity to encourage the Gulf Cooperation Council attendees to provide the YCG with much-needed additional resources. END COMMENT. SECHE