U.S. Department of Justice isvs ml fg. ii i Federal Bureau of Investigation D. C. 20535 January 6, 2012 MR. JASON LEOPOLD FOIPA Request No.; 1180121~ 000 Subject: SOUFAN, ALI Dear Mr. Leopold: This acknowledges receipt of your Freedom of information/Privacy Act (FOIPA) request to the FBI. The FOIPA number listed above has been assigned to your request. You have requested records concerning a third party (or third parties). Records pertaining to a third party generally cannot be released absent express authorization and consent of the third party, proof that the subject of your request is deceased, or a clear demonstration that the public interest in disclosure outweighs the personal privacy interest and that significant public benefit would result from the disclosure of the requested records. Proof of death can be a copy of a death certificate, Social Security Death Index, obituary or another recognized reference source. Death is presumed if the birth date of the subject is more than 100 years ago. Since you have not furnished a Certification of Identity form, proof of death, or public justification for release, the release of records concerning a third party would result in an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy and would bein violation of the Privacy Act. Title 5 U.S.C. 552a. These records are also generally exempt from disclosure pursuant to the FOIA, Title 5 U.S.C. 552 exemptions and Enclosed is a Certification of Identity form. You may make additional copies of this form if you are requesting information on more than one individual. The subject of your request should complete this form and then sign it or prepare a document containing the required descriptive data and have it notarized. The original certification of identity, notarized authorization with the descriptive information and a legible, original signature must be provided to the FBI before ari accurate search of our records can be conducted. If requested, we will conduct a search for any public records maintained in ourfiles, such as court records and news clippings, without the express authorization of the third party, proof of death, or public justification for release provided the subject is of sufficient public notoriety. If public records exist in our files and you desire to obtain them, please reply with a letter asking for the public documents. You can fax your request to (540) 668-4997, or mail to 170 Marcel Drive, Winchester, VA 22602, to the Attn: Work Process Unit. lf we do not receive a response from you within 30 days from the date of this letter, your request will be closed. You must include the FOIPA request number with any communication regarding this matter. This response should not be considered an indication of whether or not records responsive to your request exist in FBI files. You may file an appeal by writing tothe Director, Office of information Policy (OIP), U.S. Department ofJustice, 1425 New York Ave., NW, Suite 11050, Washington, D.C. 20530-0001. Your appeal must be received by OIP within sixty (60) days from the date of this letter in order to be considered timely. The envelope and the letter should be clearly marked "Freedom of information Appeal." Please cite the FOIPA Number assigned to your request to facilitate its identification. Enclosed for your information is a copy of the FBI File Fact Sheet. Very truly yours. David M. Hardy Section Chief, Record/information Dissemination Section Records Management Division Enclosures