MOAYED: YEMENI PRESIDENT REQUESTS DISCUSSION WITH

S E C R E T SANAA 001439 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR L/LEI, S/CT, DOJ FOR DAAG BRUCE SWARTZ, RIYADH FOR LEGATT E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/22/2013 TAGS: PTER PREL ASEC PGOV KJUS YM TERFIN SUBJECT: MOAYED: YEMENI PRESIDENT REQUESTS DISCUSSION WITH FBI DIRECTOR REF: A. SECSTATE 175378 ¶B. BERLIN 2395 ¶C. SANAA 1411 ¶D. SANAA 1256 ¶E. SANAA 581 ¶F. SANAA 518 ¶G. SANAA 482 ¶H. BERLIN 406 ¶I. SANAA 127 ¶J. BERLIN 131 ¶K. SECSTATE 7011 Classified By: Charge D'Affaires Alan G. Misenheimer for Reason 1.5 (b, d) ¶1. (U) This is an action request -- see paragraph 6. ¶2. (S/NF) Summary: The Charge received a call from Mohamed Sudam on behalf of President Saleh regarding Sheikh al-Moayed late on June 21. He relayed a response from Saleh to the ref a points delivered by Charge earlier in the day by phone to Sudam. President Saleh asked Charge to facilitate a phone conversation with FBI Director Mueller within two hours 6/21 (by 1600 Washington time). Saleh repeated his appeal (ref c) that Moayed be turned over to Yemen to allow for a joint Yemeni-U.S. investigation. See paragraph 5 for text of message. After discussing the request with NEA/ARP and failing to reach Sanaa's Legatt in Washington to check the feasibility and desirability of a phone conversation, Post responded to President Saleh by saying that a phone call was not feasible in that timeframe and that the points passed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (details septel) represented the U.S. position. President Saleh requested that a phone call still be arranged as soon as possible. End Summary. ¶3. (S/NF) Muhamed Sudam, personal advisor and translator to President Saleh, phoned Charge from Germany at approximately 2100 Sanaa time to respond to ref a points delivered by Charge by phone at approximately 1600 Sanaa time. In a message translated directly from President Saleh (whose voice was audible in the background),Sudam dictated the appeal in paragraph 5. Sudam relayed a request from President Saleh to facilitate a phone conversation with FBI Director Mueller. ¶4. (S/NF) Charge said he would look into the possibility of arranging a phone call but reiterated the points in ref a. Charge added that the issue in Germany was legal and not political, saying the United States had no standing in the German judicial system and cannot make them do what Saleh wants. President Saleh asserted that the political and legal distinction is not so clear cut -- "serious cooperation is needed to overcome problem." ¶5. (S/NF) Text of President Saleh's 6/21 personal message to the U.S. Administration: President Saleh appeals again for the U.S. to agree to a joint Yemeni-U.S. investigation of Sheikh al-Moayed. He should be returned to Yemen for that purpose. President Saleh believes that al-Moayed is not a terrorist or a "bad man," perhaps simply stupid. President Saleh has talked to the Germans and he says they are "embarrassed" by the case. Based on his conversations, he thinks all the Germans would need is a "green light" from the United States to release al-Moayed to Yemen. The Yemen-U.S. relationship is bigger than al-Moayed. We need to work together in a positive way to overcome this problem. In Yemen, we can investigate together the details of al-Moayed's actions. Please facilitate a phone conversation with FBI Director Mueller so that President Saleh can discuss this matter. (End Text.) ¶6. (U) Please advise on Saleh's request for a telcon with FBI Director Mueller to discuss the Moayed case. MISENHEIMER