US embassy cable - 03SANAA2487

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 002487 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS TO NP AND T 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/2013 
TAGS: MNUC, PARM, PREL, PHSA, PBTS, EAIR, EWWT, KNNP, DEMARCHE 
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE OF YEMENI MFA OFFICIAL ON PSI BACKGROUND 
AND POINTS 
 
REF: A. STATE 254587 
 
     B. SANAA 2260 
     C. STATE 262197 
 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Alan G. Misenheimer for 
reasons 1.5 (b and d) 
 
1. (c) On October 12, Pol/Econ Chief met with Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs Director of the Americas Office Abdulsalem 
Qassim al-Awadhi to re-deliver and discuss the  Proliferation 
Security Initiative (PSI) Statement of Interdiction 
Principles (refs a and b) and to review the questions and 
answers in reftel c.  Pol/Econoff reiterated the U.S. request 
for support for the initiative and feedback on the ROYG's 
views on how such principles could be incorporated into 
existing counter-terrorism efforts, as well as whether there 
are concerns about whether Yemen's domestic laws can support 
the initiative.  Al-Awadhi assured Pol/Econoff that he had 
passed the information on the initiative delivered September 
9 (ref b) to the responsible parties in the foreign 
minister's office, the prime ministry, and the presidency. 
He said he expected a request for recommendations from his 
office, and that he did not see any obvious problems with 
supporting the initiative. 
 
2. (c) Al-Awadhi was not aware of the letter the UK 
Ambassador to Yemen recently forwarded to FM Qirbi on the 
PSI, but said that his office would coordinate with the 
Office of European Affairs on a response, if necessary.  He 
was unable to provide a timeline for a substantive response. 
 
3. (c) Comment:  Director al-Awadhi gave the impression that 
a response on the PSI was unlikely to come from his office, 
but needed to be addressed at a much higher level.  From the 
conversation, it was clear that while al-Awadhi might be 
comfortable with the general approach of the PSI, he is not 
familiar enough with Yemeni law on the subject to speak to 
its compatibility with the initiative.  End comment. 
HULL