INSTRUCTION FOR USUN TO REQUEST UN 1267 LISTING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 STATE 002607 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN KN KS KTFN PREL PTER SA YM UNSC SUBJECT: INSTRUCTION FOR USUN TO REQUEST UN 1267 LISTING OF AL QAIDA IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA AND TOP LEADERS REF: A. 2009 STATE 129597 ¶B. SEOUL 000003 ¶C. OTTAWA 911 ¶D. STATE 001098 ¶E. CANBERRA 000012 ¶F. 2009 ANKARA 001848 ¶1. This is an action request. Please see paragraphs 3 and 4. ¶2. SUMMARY: The U.S. prenotified (ref A) its intention to request on December 18, 2009, that the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee add the names of Yemen-based al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and two of its leaders, Nasir al-Wahishi and Ali al-Shihri, to the Committee's list of individuals and entities associated with Usama bin Laden, the Taliban or al-Qaida. Listed individuals and entities are subject to UN Security Council mandated sanctions, including a travel ban, arms embargo, and asset freeze. The UK, Australia, Republic of Korea and Canada have indicated their intent to co-sponsor this listing request. Turkey has also indicated possible interest in co-sponsoring. Saudi Arabia is leaning towards co-sponsorship, but it may not yet have instructed its mission in New York accordingly. End summary. ¶3. ACTION REQUEST: USUN is requested to submit on January 12, 2010, the following names with statements of case for listing (note: coversheets will be sent via e-mail) by the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee: BEGIN TEXT (1) AL-QA'IDA IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA AKA: AQAP AKA: Al-Qa'ida of Jihad Organization in the Arabian Peninsula AKA: Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Jazirat al-Arab AKA: Al-Qa'ida Organization in the Arabian Peninsula AKA: Al-Qa'ida in Yemen AKA: AQY AKA: Al-Qa'ida in the South Arabian Peninsula Location:Yemen Alt. Location: Saudi Arabia In January 2009, the leader of al-Qa'ida in Yemen (AQY), Nasir al-Wahishi, publically announced that Yemeni and Saudi al-Qa'ida operatives were now working together under the banner of al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). This announcement signaled the rebirth of an al-Qa'ida franchise that carried out attacks under this name in Saudi Arabia from 2004 - 2006. AQAP's self-stated goals include establishing a caliphate in the Arabian Peninsula and the wider Middle East as well as implementing Shari'a law. In AQAP's January 24, 2009 inaugural video, al-Wahishi stated the group's goals are to: "rally on supporting the religion, establish the Caliphate, and fight the enemies." Al-Wahishi describes the group's predisposition toward violence to achieve these goals in the same statement saying, "after demonstrations, there must be bombings. After civil disobedience, there must be military anger." Since its inception, AQAP has carried out a number of attacks in the Arabian Peninsula. In addition to the AQY attack against the U.S. Embassy in September 2008, AQAP carried out a suicide bombing against a South Korean tourist group in Yemen in March 2009. In June 2009, AQAP kidnapped nine foreign nationals in Yemen and eventually killed three. In September 2009, an AQAP suicide bomber attempted to assassinate Prince Muhammad Bin Nayif Bin'Abd Al-'Aziz, Saudi Arabia's Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs. Moreover, AQAP envisions for itself a more strategic role than only attacks in the Arabian Peninsula. In a February 2009 video statement, AQAP deputy Said al-Shihri described a broader role for this new iteration of AQAP that would entail 'extending support from the (Arabian) Peninsula to jihad in Palestine, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and all Muslim countries, with the aim of defending our lands and our sacred things.' There is evidence indicating that some al-Qa'ida operatives may be leaving Pakistan in hopes of relocating to Yemen or Somalia. Further evidence of this process came to light on December 25, 2009, when a Nigerian national allegedly trained by AQAP ignited an incendiary device on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan. The would-be bomber, identified as Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, attempted to detonate the high-powered explosive but was unsuccessful. He was overpowered by passengers and crew. In an online statement, AQAP claimed responsibility for the attack and said that Abdulmutallab had coordinated the plot with members of AQAP. (2) NASIR AL-WAHISHI AKA: Abu Basir AKA: Abu Basir Nasir al-Wahishi AKA: Naser Abdel Karim al-Wahishi AKA: Nasir Abd al-Karim al-Wuhayshi AKA: Abu Basir Nasir al-Wuhayshi AKA: Nasser Abdul-karim Abdullah al-Wouhichi AKA: Abu Baseer al-Wehaishi AKA: Abu Basir Nasser al-Wuhishi Nationality: Yemeni DOB: October 1, 1976 (08/10/1396 H) Passport: Yemen #40483; Issued: 01/05/1997; Expiration: Unknown Nasir al-Wahishi has led two al-Qa'ida affiliated groups that have each publicly claimed responsibility for planning and carrying out assassinations, suicide bombings, and attacks against critical infrastructure. The targets for these attacks have included the U.S. Embassy in Sana'a, tourists, aid workers, Yemeni counterterrorism officials, and oil facilities. As recently as January 2009, al-Wahishi indicated his predisposition toward violence in a January 2009 video statement, saying "demonstrations should be followed by violence and civil disobedience should also be followed by military anger." Nasir al-Wahishi announced himself as the leader of al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in January 2009. The press release in which al-Wahishi announced AQAP's re-emergence also noted that the group's Saudi terrorists had pledged allegiance to al-Wahishi as their new leader. Al-Wahishi has provided significant support for AQAP terrorist operations and has worked with AQAP operatives to facilitate attacks. As AQAP's leader, al-Wahishi is responsible for approving targets, recruiting new members, allocating resources to training and attack planning, and tasking others to carry out attacks. Under al-Wahishi's leadership, AQAP claimed responsibility for two separate attacks in Yemen: the first against South Korean tourists that killed four, and the second against a convoy carrying South Korean officials investigating the March 15 attack. In addition, AQAP kidnapped nine foreigners in June 2009, killing three of them. In September 2009 AQAP was thought to be involved with the attempted assassination of Saudi Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs Muhammad Bin Nayif Bin'Abd Al-'Aziz. Al-Wahishi emerged as the leader of one of AQAP's predecessor groups, al-Qa'ida in Yemen (AQY),in 2007. On September 17, 2008, AQY attacked the U.S. Embassy in Sana'a, killing 16. AQY claimed responsibility for the attacks nearly two months later, and in so doing confirmed experts' assessments that the attacks bore all the hallmarks of al-Qa'ida. Al-Wahishi, a Yemeni citizen, had been in Afghanistan during the late 1990s until the post-9/11 U.S. attack on the Taliban. Al-Wahishi escaped across the border to Iran, where he was arrested and then extradited to Yemen in 2003. The Yemeni government never officially brought charges against him, and he escaped from Yemeni prison along with 22 others in 2006. Following his escape, an Interpol Orange Notice, File #2009/52/OS/CCC, #75, was issued for al-Wahishi. In explaining the notice, Interpol described the escape and al-Wahishi's unknown whereabouts as constituting a clear and present danger. Al-Wahishi has direct ties to al-Qa'ida and its senior leadership. He has claimed publically to have been the secretary and confidant of the leader of Al-Qa'ida, Osama Bin Laden, prior to his return to Yemen. He has repeatedly sworn allegiance to Bin Laden and al-Qa'ida senior leadership (e.g., his February 2009 video statement),and in late February 2008 Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's deputy, described al-Wahishi as the 'Amir of the Mujahidin in Yemen.' Nasir al-Wahishi continues to lead AQAP, an active terrorist organization operating in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. (3) Said Ali al-Shihri AKA: Abu-Sayyaf AKA: Abu-Sufyan al-Azidi AKA: Abu-Sayyaf al-Shihri AKA: Abu Sufian Kadhdhaab Matrook AKA: Sa'id Ali Jabir al-Khathim al-Shihri AKA:Salah AKA: Salah Abu Sufyan AKA: Salah al-Din AKA: Abu Osama AKA: Abu Sulaiman AKA: Nur al-Din Afghani Azibk AKA: Alakhaddm (variant: Akhdam) DOB: 12 September 1973 Nationality: Saudi Passport: Saudi Arabia # C102432; Issued 17/1/1421H, Expires 17/1/1426H (U/FOUO) Said Ali al-Shihri was publicly identified in January 2009 as the deputy leader of al-Qa'ida's regional affiliate, al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Since this announcement, AQAP has claimed responsibility for the March 2009 suicide bombings that killed four Korean tourists in Yemen, and is reportedly behind the kidnapping of nine foreigners in Yemen, and the subsequent execution of three of them in June 2009. (U/FOUO) Speaking as AQAP's deputy leader in a March 2009 audio statement, al-Shihri vowed to open a "great front" against the United States and the West in the Arabian Peninsula and called on fellow militants to "detonate them at sea and kill them on land." In addition to using invective to promote acts of violence, as deputy of AQAP, al-Shihri is involved in the means to carry out such acts, including, but not limited to: generating targets; recruiting new members; assisting with training and attack planning; and tasking others in the preparation of attacks. (U/FOUO) Since joining AQAP as its deputy, al-Shihri has repeatedly proclaimed his loyalty to the al-Qa'ida terrorist network, a designated foreign terrorist organization. Al-Shihri appeared in a AQAP video statement in January 2009, and made a brief statement in the February 2009 Ayman al-Zawahiri video statement. In both videos, al-Shihri pledged his loyalty to senior al-Qa'ida leaders Usama bin Ladin and al-Zawahiri and vowed to perform jihad. He also gave his allegiance to AQAP emir Nasir al-Wahishi, who advocates violence in the name of "vengeance" against Europe and the United States for their "support to the Jews." Consistent with al-Qa'ida's philosophy, al-Shihri publicly called for waging jihad until "we establish the state of Islam and righteous Caliphate . . . and (un)til we establish God's Shari'ah." (U/FOUO) Al-Shihri is believed to have played a key operational role in the September 2008 attack against the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa. In addition, al-Shihri likely played a critical role in the August 2009 assassination attempt against Saudi Prince Muhammad bin Nayif. Bin Nayif was believed to be on the phone with al-Shihri when the phone detonated a bomb planted inside AQAP operative Abdallah Assiri. (U/FOUO) For his role in terrorist activities, al-Shihri was listed among Saudi Arabia's 85 most wanted terrorists in February 2009. He was charged with "(i)nfiltrating into Yemen and joining the ranks of al-Qa'ida, under the leadership of Nasir al-Wahishi, a wanted person; being appointed as al-Wahishi's deputy; making direct threats to carry out acts of terrorism and assassination of senior officials and of security men in the kingdom." (U/FOUO) Al-Shihri was captured in Pakistan in 2001 and held as detainee number 372 at the U.S. facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba until his release in 2007. According to al-Shihri's Review Board Administrative Summary, he was accused of facilitating travel for jihadists into Afghanistan and having trained in urban warfare in Afghanistan; charges that al-Shihri denied. END TEXT ¶4. USUN is further requested to coordinate in advance with the UK, Australian, Canadian, Saudi, South Korean and Turkish missions to the UN in order to ensure those missions submit timely information to the Committee signaling their co-sponsorship for these listings. ¶5. POINT OF CONTACT: Questions may be directed to IO/PSC (Ed Goff, 202-736-7735) or S/CT (Lillian McTernan, 202-647-6573). CLINTON