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