YEMEN: FORMER IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO VIETNAM ARRIVES

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 SANAA 001414

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2013
TAGS: PREL ASEC IZ VM YM
SUBJECT: YEMEN: FORMER IRAQI AMBASSADOR TO VIETNAM ARRIVES

REF: A. STATE 163627


B. SANAA 1351

C. SANAA 1260

D. SANAA 1259

E. SANAA 1139

F. SANAA 898

G. STATE 102827

Classified By: Charges D'Affaires Alan G. Misenheimer for Reasons 1.5 (
b,c,d)


1. (S/NF) On June 18, before a meeting with FM Qirbi (see
septels),Charge
delivered the USG response to the ROYG request for
information on Salah
al-Muktar, the Saddam-era Iraqi Ambassador to Vietnam, to
Abdul Hakim
al-Iryani, Advisor to Foreign Minister Qirbi. Iryani noted
that the text (see
para 4) appeared rather ambivalent, and did not explicitly
answer the key
question on Muktar's affiliation with the Iraqi Intelligence
Service.
Iryani also confirmed that Muktar arrived in Sanaa on Monday,
June 16, and
is in the care of a group of Iraqis living in Sanaa.


2. (S/NF) FM Qirbi opened the 6/18 meeting with a plea for
a quicker response
to ROYG's requests for information. Qirbi noted that some
Iraqi officials
whose names ROYG submitted to the U.S. for vetting (see
septels) have since
pulled their applications for asylum in Yemen, but did not
offer specifics.
ROYG faces a potential problem, said Qirbi, because some
Iraqis are coming into
the country without advising ROYG in advance -- Iraqis, like
some other Arab
nationals, do not require visas to enter Yemen.


3. (S/NF) During a telcon with PolOff on 6/16, Iryani said
the next request
for USG vetting would include a high-level diplomat
(Ambassador or
DCM-equivalant) from Azerbiajan. Post expects to receive the
new list, as well
as contact information for the ROYG mission in Baghdad, on
Saturday, June 21.


4. (S rel Yemen) Text delivered to ROYG on 6/18:

(Begin text)

We conducted traces on Salah al-Mukhtar, an Iraqi who has
requested asylum from
the Government of Yemen. We found the following information:

-- One Salah 'Abd al-Qadir Mahmud al-Mukhtar was Iraqi
Ambassador in New
Delhi, India. (May 1999)

-- Member of committee formed in mid-Jul 98 to address issue
of poor
performance and defections in Ba'th party cadre involved in
propaganda
activities. (Aug 1998)

-- Editor in chief of the Al-Jumhuriyah newspaper and
so-called confidant of
Saddam. (Apr 1998)

-- Chairman of the Organization of Friendship, Peace and
Solidarity in Iraq.
Iraqi ppt no, mi 7085/443. Subj was a delegate to the
PAIC-sponsored
fundamentalist islamic conference in Khartoum in early 1995.
(Apr 1995)

-- Salah al-Mukhtar was a Press Attache at Iraqi Mission to
the United
Nations; he stated that he has been in the U.S. working at
the Iraqi Mission to
the United Nations for about three to three and one half
years. (may 1984)

-- Subject, a Directorate General of Intelligence Officer,
was to serve as the
Managing Editor for the journal 'Al Dastour' based out of
London. His cover
was to be journalist/attache at the Iraqi press office. (Nov
1982)
(End text)

MISENHEIMER