INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: Texts of Dhs Emergency Aviation Amendments

Published: Tue 6 Jan 2004 12:26 PM
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SANAA 000054
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAIR PTER ASEC PREL YM COUNTER TERRORISM
SUBJECT: TEXTS OF DHS EMERGENCY AVIATION AMENDMENTS
DELIVERED TO YEMEN'S CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY
REF: 03 STATE 348468
1. (sbu) Pol/Econ Chief and Econoff delivered texts of three
aviation emergency amendments provided in reftel to Hamed
Ahmed Farag, Chairman of Yemen's Civil Aviation and
Meteorological Authority (CAMA), Mohammed al-Madhagi, CAMA
Advisor and Chief of the Technical Advisory Bureau. Noting
that Yemen does not currently have an air marshal program,
Pol/Econ Chief asked if Yemen would be able to provide
"armed, trained, government law enforcement officers" if
warranted by circumstances or required by TSA. Officials did
not provide a clear answer, but al-Madhagi noted that Yemen
had a sky marshal program more than ten years ago that was
discontinued because of safety concerns, i.e., a passenger
could take a marshal's weapon and use it to hijack the plane.
He asked if the additional security requirements were an
ICAO or U.S. standard. Upon learning it was a U.S.
Department of Homeland Security requirement, he opined the
world will not accept the requirement because of the
perceived danger of armed officers on flights.
2. (sbu) Comment: There are currently no direct flights from
Yemen, by domestic or international carriers, to, from or
over the United States, which greatly reduces the likelihood
that the emergency amendments would ever need to be enforced
with CAMA's cooperation. CAMA officials received the
information, but seemed skeptical about the law's
effectiveness. End comment.
HULL
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