INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: Extrancheck: Pre-License Check Fadel Al-Husseini

Published: Wed 7 Apr 2004 02:18 PM
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SANAA 000823
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR EB/ESP; U.S. CUSTOMS HG FOR STRATEGIC
INVESTIGATIONS; ROME FOR CUSTOMS ATTACH
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: BEXP ETRD ETTC YE
SUBJECT: EXTRANCHECK: PRE-LICENSE CHECK FADEL AL-HUSSEINI
REF: USDOC 00982
1. (u) This is an action request. Please see para 6.
2. (u) Post received original PLC request in reftel on March
8. The purchaser is the Fadel Al-Husseini Trading Group.
The enduser is the Republican Guard of Yemen. The enduser
site is the training and storage facilities of the Yemeni
Republican Guard camps.
3. (sbu) Fadel Al-Husseini, the chairman of the purchasing
company, in consultation with the Republican Guard, arranged
for the extrancheck on March 21. On March 20, twelve hours
before the inspection, a Republican Guard officer informed
the Commerce Specialist that the Embassy should request the
meeting directly from the Republican Guard. On March 21,
Post sent a letter requesting assistance from the Republican
Guard via fax to the Office of Commander, Staff Colonel Ahmed
Ali Abudllah Saleh.
4. (sbu) On March 24, Fadel Al-Husseini provided the bill of
lading and receipts to Post's Commercial Office. That same
day, al-Husseini also faxed a letter to arrange an
appointment for the inspection. After several calls,
however, a Republican Guard officer told Commercial
Specialist to send diplomatic note to the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs requesting that the Ministry of Defense work with the
U.S. Embassy to schedule the inspection of the cargo trucks
and its facilities for cargo truck maintenance.
5. (sbu) On March 31, Post delivered a dipnote to the MFA
requesting assistance from the Ministry of Defense. That
same day Emboffs met with Major Mohammed al-Arar, Director of
Equipment at the Republican Guard camp outside of Sanaa.
During the meeting, Emboffs discussed the requirements of the
extrancheck, explained why the USG performs extranchecks, and
offered to connect Arar with other Yemeni organizations and
companies who have experienced an extrancheck so he could be
more familiar with the process. During a one hour meeting,
Emboffs requested to see the cargo trucks the Republican
Guard purchased and the maintenance shop. Arar pointed out
the window to cargo trucks approximately 200 yards away and
said, "see, there they are." When Emboffs asked to get
closer to the trucks, Arar at first refused. Later, Arar
agreed Emboffs could see cargo trucks, but said they needed
to go to a camp 20 kilometers away on an unpaved road.
Emboffs told Arar that they wanted to examine the cargo truck
at the second site. After making a phone call, Arar said
Emboffs could not see the trucks, the maintenance shop nor
the camp.
6. (sbu) Comment/Action request: The Republican Guard has
been somewhat cooperative, but is hesitant to allow Post to
inspect their existing cargo trucks and facilities. USDOC
office in Abu Dhabi confirms that the site check for the
trucks and the parts previously purchased are essential to
this pre-license check. Post has actively pursued
investigating this matter, but due to bureaucratic delays
cannot meet the April 7 deadline. Post requests four
additional weeks to see the Republican Guard site before
submitting a definitive response to the extrancheck request.
End comment/action request.
HULL
View as: DESKTOP | MOBILE © Scoop Media