US embassy cable - 03SANAA1396

S E C R E T SANAA 001396 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EB/ESC/ESP (GGLASS) S/CT (SFOX), NEA, IO/PHO (APEREZ) NSC 
(GPETERS), TREASURY GENERAL COUNSEL (JZARATE), TREASURY 
TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST FINANCING TREASURY PASS TO OFAC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2013 
TAGS: ETTC, EFIN, PTER, PREL, CVIS, KVPR, YM, TERFIN 
SUBJECT: TERRORIST FINANCE: YEMEN REQUESTS MORE INFORMATION 
ON AL-AQSA FOUNDATION 
 
REF: A) SANAA 1192 B) SECSTATE 137082 C) SANAA 442 
 
Classified By: Classified by CDA Alan Misenheimer for Reasons 1.5 (B) a 
nd (D) 
 
 1. (U) This is an Action Request, please see para 8. 
 
2. (S) Summary: The Head of the Americas desk at the Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs requests more information regarding the 
link between the Yemen Al-Aqsa Foundation and Hamas. ROYG 
officials are seeking an alternative charity for donations to 
the Palestinian people, possibly the Arab League's al-Quds 
foundation. In a follow up meeting, Pol/Econoff confirmed 
that the Ambassador had already provided information on this 
connection at the highest levels sufficient to justify 
freezing the assets of the Al-Aqsa Foundation. End Summary. 
 
3. (S) In a follow-up meeting on June 9 regarding the USG's 
request that the ROYG freeze the assets of the local branch 
of the al-Aqsa Foundation, (Reftel A) Head of the America's 
desk at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Abdul Salam al-Awadhi 
requested more information relating to al-Aqsa Foundation's 
support for Hamas.   He stated that evidence in the USG 
nonpaper (Ref B) linking Sheikh al-Muayed, the head of 
al-Aqsa foundation, to al-Qaeda was clear.  However, 
al-Awadhi claimed that the evidence concerning the al-Aqsa 
foundation itself and its connections to Hamas, were not 
explicit enough for the MFA to make a clear decision. 
4. (S) Al-Awadhi said that his office is preparing a report 
for Foreign Minister Qirbi recommending whether or not to 
freeze al-Aqsa Foundation assets. At the same time, ROYG 
officials are also seeking alternative conduits for the 
public to donate money on behalf of the Palestinians (Ref A). 
 Al-Awadhi raised the possibility of promoting the Arab 
League backed al-Quds Fund as a possible mechanism for 
charitable donations. 
 
5. (S) Pol/Econoff pointed out that halting the funding for 
an organization that supports Hamas was particularly 
important in light of Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen's 
statements against terror at the Aqaba meetings.  Al-Awadhi 
responded that the ROYG understood this issue, and that they 
did not want to be "more royal than the King"  on the matter 
of positive support for the Palestinians. 
 
6. (S) On June 11, in a subsequent meeting, Pol/Econoff 
confirmed to al-Awadhi that the Ministry had already been 
given all relevant information and that the Embassy believed 
the information was sufficient to justify freezing the assets 
of the Yemen al-Aqsa foundation.  She also explained that the 
Ambassador had given Minister Qirbi copies of the al-Muayed 
indictment, which included information on al-Aqsa's 
activities in Yemen.  Al-Awadhi politely disagreed that the 
ROYG had enough information to make such a decision. 
However, he  said that all available information would be 
discussed by an interagency team from the Ministries of 
Interior, Finance and Foreign Affairs, who would decide on 
this matter. 
 
7. (S) Comment: Al-Awadhi may not have been fully briefed on 
the Ambassador's conversations with Foreign Minister Qirbi 
regarding Sheikh al-Muayed and al-Aqsa. Either way, al-Awadhi 
is seeking as much information as possible to support a 
difficult decision for the ROYG. However, his search for more 
facts is postponing a decision on al-Aqsa's assets, and this 
may be the desired effect. End Comment. 
 
8. (S) Action Request: Please advise Post on the Arab 
League's al-Quds Fund, in particular  whether there are 
objections to its possible designation by the ROYG as an 
acceptable conduit for donations from Yemeni citizens to the 
Palestinians. 
MISENHEIMER