US embassy cable - 03SANAA2470

UNCLAS SANAA 002470 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS TO PM/DDTC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KOMC, ETTC, YE 
SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN LEVEL III:  END USE CHECK ON 
MUNITIONS LICENSE NO. 839601 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 285781 
     B. STATE 233133 
 
1.  Pol/Econ Officer and Commercial Specialist visited 
Mohamed Abdulrahman Kawkaban, the General Manager of Summer 
Tour and Travel located on Hadha Street, Sanaa.  Kawkaban is 
also an owner and executive officer of the Kawkaban Modern 
Center, a separate company that brokered the procurement 
order (reftel) on behalf of the Minister of Interior (MOI) 
for the Central Security Organization (CSO) of the MOI. 
 
2.  Kawkaban reported that five items were initially ordered: 
tactical vests, ceramic protective plates, tactical helmets, 
gas masks, and face shields.  This complete order was 
initially to be procured from an undisclosed French company; 
after meetings with the U.S.-based firm Armor Holdings 
Company (which has branches in UAE, London, and Paris), 
Kawkaban elected to procure the equipment from the U.S. 
company due to their more competitive prices and higher 
standards of quality.  He further explained that after a 
misunderstanding regarding the specifications of some of the 
products which were being ordered from Armor Holding, 
Kawkaban canceled the order for the helmets and the face 
shields with no plans to reorder them.  The order was thus 
reduced to three items.  According to Kawkaban, the tactical 
vests are being shipped from the London-based branch of the 
Armor Holding company, and the ceramic plates and gas masks 
are being shipped from the U.S.  All three items on the order 
are still pending delivery in the near future.  Post can 
schedule a follow-up visit once the materials arrive in 
country. 
 
3.  Kawkaban and his business enterprise appeared to be 
above-board.  Kawkaban was open to discussing his business, 
business contacts, and the details of the purchases, to 
include confirmation of the end-user, the officers in charge 
of the procurement for the CSO, and his contact with them. 
Kawkaban explained that Summer Tour and Travel is owned by 
the Al-Maz Group, a large and fairly well-known enterprise; 
he said there is no relationship between his Kawkaban Modern 
Center company and Al-Maz other than the fact that he is the 
GM for the travel agency, and on occasion, uses their 
computers, faxes, and office spaces for his personal 
business.  Kawkaban is a family business and company which 
was founded by his father who established the entity in 1967. 
 Currently, Kawkaban manages the company with his brothers. 
Post's commercial section has little information on the 
company which specializes in import and export, specifically 
for various ROYG ministries and agencies. 
HULL