Cablegate: Terrorism Financing Coordinating Officer

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SANAA 002867

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

PLEASE PASS TO EB/ESC/TFS JEAN CLARK, S/CT TODD KUSHNER,
INL/C/CP STEVEN PETERSON,IO/PSC BETSY FITZGERALD, AND
TREASURY/OFAC PAUL LURIE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER EFIN ETTC PREL KTFN KVPR YM TERFIN COUNTER TERRORISM
SUBJECT: TERRORISM FINANCING COORDINATING OFFICER

REF: A. SECSTATE 175637

B. SANAA 2151

1.(SBU) Embassy designated DCM Nabeel Khoury as Terrorist
Financing Coordinating Officer as requested in Ref A cable.
The DCM can be reached at phone number (967) 1-755-2212 or by
email at khouryn-at-state.sgov.gov. Econoff Noah Siegel will
serve as post's working-level point of contact. Mr. Siegel
can be reached at phone number (967) 1-755-2152 or by email
at siegelni-at-state.sgov.gov.

2. (SBU) The largest impediment to fighting terrorist
financing in Yemen is lack of enforcement capacity and not a
problem of public perception. (Ref B) The anti-money
laundering unit at the Central Bank of Yemen is understaffed,
and requires extensive training and technical support. As a
result, commercial banks and hawala houses provide
information to the CBY on a mostly voluntary basis. CBY
computers are not networked to each other, much less the
broader banking system. To address these deficiencies and
strengthen the ROYG's ability to combat TF, post has sought
funds from a variety of sources, including INL and the
Terrorist Finance Working Group.

3. (SBU) Despite the limitations, the ROYG is actively
involved in MENA-FATF proceedings, and cooperates with other
Gulf states to coordinate efforts. Periodic meetings between
regional TFCOs to correspond with MENA-FATF meetings would
demonstrate to the ROYG a high level of engagement and help
keep post current on regional issues. Post would also
welcome regional training for the Deputy TFCO.
Krajeski

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