ON THE GROUND OVERSEAS
Our “Legal Attaché” in Yemen
05/10/06
Situated on the southern coast of the
Arabian Peninsula, Yemen is one of the world’s
oldest centers of civilization. Today, it
is home to one of our newest international
offices—which are officially called
Legal Attachés or Legats.
Why the name? An “attaché” is
a diplomat who works for an ambassador; “legal” refers
to our law enforcement role. Our agents in
these offices function as diplomats by sharing
information and focusing on building mutually
beneficial relationships with their international
colleagues. They don’t investigate
cases; only when we have the permission of
the host country do we send in investigators
to assist in a case.
Today, our Legats are located in
more than 50 capitals
worldwide, ranging from Abu Dhabi to Warsaw. That’s
triple our number of overseas offices in
1991.
In
the case of Yemen, our law enforcement
relationships go back years, but they took
a step forward in October 2000,
when we began working together closely
to investigate the terrorist bombing of
the USS Cole in Aden Harbor off
the coast of Yemen. With Yemen’s
permission, we deployed more than 200 agents,
forensic experts, and other professionals
to the scene of the attack, which killed
17 U.S. sailors. Our careful analysis of
explosives evidence and other work, in
close coordination with Yemen authorities,
led to arrests and convictions.
The partnerships we built along the way
also led to an agreement with Yemeni leaders
to open an office in the U.S. Embassy in
Sana’a. The Legat was opened in March
2004 and became fully operational in October
2005.
The
Legat’s work so far has
primarily focused on terrorism. “Yemen
is one of our nation’s partners in
the fight against terrorism…and
we appreciate the help they’ve given
us in tracking terrorists,” says
Legal Attaché Special Agent Jennifer
Hale Keenan. For her part, Jennifer spent
time recently assisting an investigation
with Yemeni police on the 23 al Qaeda associates
who escaped from prison in February. Two
of the escapees—one
serving time for his role in the Cole bombing
and another
linked to a terrorism investigation in
Lackawanna, New York—are
on the Most
Wanted Terrorist list.
Jennifer has also coordinated professional
training opportunities for Yemeni law enforcement—everything
from advanced fingerprint technology to crime
scene evidence collection. She and her staff
are also responsible for building relationships
in Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia, all close
by in Africa.
“It’s not easy immersing yourself
in another culture, learning how a different
system of government works, and starting
a whole new rolodex,” Jennifer said. “But
there’s no substitute for being here,
meeting people face-to-face, finding common
ground, sharing some laughs, and building
the kind of relationships you could never
build on the telephone a couple thousand
miles away. That’s the real beauty
of being a Legat.”
Resources: FBI
Legal Attachés |
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