US embassy cable - 04MANAMA1495

UNCLAS MANAMA 001495 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/ESC/TFS, S/CT, INL/C, IO/PHO, NEA/ARPI 
TREASURY FOR JZARATE, DGLASER, OFAC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: BA, ECON, EFIN, ETTC, PREL, PTER, KTFN 
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MANAMA - TFCO RESPONSE 
 
REF: (A) STATE 201391 (B) ROME 02381 
 
 1.(U) Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM), Susan Ziadeh, will 
serve as the TFCO and Political/Economic Chief Steve Bondy 
will serve as the Deputy TFCO.  In addition the Office of 
Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of the 
Treasury recently established its Regional Counter Terrorism 
Attache (RCTA), Jason Beal, at Embassy Manama.  While his 
responsibilities are regional he will assist the TFCO and the 
Post in its mission to combat the financing of terrorism in 
Bahrain. Responses below are keyed to Ref A questions. 
 
2. (U) a. The TFCO contact information is as follows: 
 
TFCO 
Susan Ziadeh 
DCM 
973-1724-2773 
ZiadehSL@state.gov 
ZiadehSL@state.sgov.gov 
 
Deputy TFCO 
Steve Bondy 
Pol/Econ Chief 
973-1724-2908 
BondySC@state.gov 
BondySC@state.sgov.gov 
 
OFAC Regional Counter Terrorism Attach 
Jason Beal 
OFAC Attach 
973-1724-2709 
bealj@state.gov 
bealjr@state.sgov.gov 
 
      b. The TFCO will chair monthly combating terrorism 
financing meetings in conjunction with the Visa Viper 
meetings.  A representative from Pol/Econ, Regional Security, 
Consular, and the OFAC-RCTA (Treasury) will attend the 
meetings. 
 
      c. The meetings will initially focus on drafting a 
baseline report on host country,s compliance with 
international standards and implementation of those standards 
(similar to Ref B).  The TFCO team will also set priorities 
in combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) for the next 
year including working with the local financial intelligence 
unit (FIU) to develop leads.  The TFCO team will also work 
with the GOB to identify problem areas in CFT and provide 
guidance and assistance if necessary to resolve outstanding 
issues.  We will seek training support for GOB from 
Washington when appropriate. 
 
 
      d. For regional cooperation Embassy Manama is in the 
fortunate position of hosting the OFAC-RCTA.  In his regional 
role the OFAC-RCTA will develop contacts with the TFCOs in 
the NEA region, including periodic visits.  The OFAC-RCTA, 
with assistance from posts in the region, will develop 
evidentiary packages for possible designations of terrorists, 
terrorist groups and their support networks.  These 
designation proposals will be submitted to the Policy 
Coordination Committee on Terrorism Financing for approval 
and action. 
 
e. To promote public awareness, the TFCO Team will work to 
advance the new regional anti-money laundering body - the 
Middle East-North Africa Financial Action Task Force 
(MENA-FATF) headquartered in Manama, Bahrain.  This body will 
promote international standards on anti-money laundering and 
combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT).  MENA-FATF 
will complete "mutual evaluations" of its members on the 
international AML/CFT standards.  The OFAC RCTA will 
encourage regional Finance Ministry contacts to support this 
new regional organization - its inaugural meeting will take 
place November 29-30 in Manama, Bahrain. Post has also been 
distributing the "Rewards for Justice" cards and matchbooks. 
The Embassy will post on its website links to the OFAC site 
and any recent actions. 
 
      f. The TFCO and Deputy have not received CFT training 
from FSI or elsewhere. 
 
      g. Post has no requests from Washington at this time. 
 
ZIADEH