YEMEN: CURBING VOLUNTEERS FOR IRAQ

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 000672

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/06/2008
TAGS: PREL SOCI YM IZ
SUBJECT: YEMEN: CURBING VOLUNTEERS FOR IRAQ

REF: SANAA 661

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES: AGMISENHEIMER FOR REASONS 1.5 B AND D
.


1. (C) BEGIN SUMMARY: Yemeni volunteers are being
discouraged by the ROYG from joining the Iraqis in fighting
against the coalition, although some volunteers will probably
continue to make their way to Baghdad from intermiediate
stops in Damascus and Amman. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) The Yemeni government in recent days has taken steps
to dissuade its citizens who wish to become "volunteer"
fighters in Iraq. President Salih told Charge (reftel) April
5 that the flow of volunteers from Yemen -- as many as thirty
thousand, Salih claimed -- has been stopped. Wire stories
also are reporting that Yemeni authorities are preventing
local volunteers from going to Baghdad to join the fight
against coalition forces.


3. (C) TDY Pol/Econ Counselor April 5 called on one of
Foreign Minister Al-Qirbi,s aides, Abdel Hakim Al-Iryani, to
underline USG views about Yemeni "volunteers" who may seek to
join Iraqi forces in fighting against the coalition.
Pol/Econ counselor noted we are expressing our view in
various Arab capitals that the safety of such volunteers is a
responsibility of their respective governments, and in the
event that volunteers join the fighting, they will be
considered as hostile elements. He added that the whole
world had seen, on an Arab TV network that last week still
had correspondents in Iraq, a large group of young men in
Baghdad, identified as Yemeni volunteers, waving rifles and
shouting pro-Saddam slogans.


4. (C) Smiling at the reference to Al-Jazeera, Al-Iryani
said its correspondents have resumed working in Iraq. He
added a "personal view" that the Yemenis in Baghdad who were
shown on Al-Jazeera had not in fact made the trip to Iraq for
the purpose of volunteering, but were drawn by the Iraqis
from a rather substantial number of pro-Baathi Yemenis
already in the country. He suggested that the sympathies of
such Yemenis were already clear.


5. (C) Marking further ROYG distance from sponsorship for
volunteers, Al-Iryani said that Yemeni authorities had in
recent days stopped more than forty would-be volunteers from
leaving Yemen, once it was confirmed that their purpose was
to volunteer. Opposition parties are sniping at the
government over this, he added. The difficulty for the
Yemeni government, he said, was in determining the motives of
travelers. There is a large number of Yemeni travelers going
to Damascus and Amman all the time, and the ROYG cannot
effectively sort out who is really going to volunteer -- but
if it finds out that is their purpose, they will be stopped.


6. (C) Pol/ECON Counselor said that US-Yemeni cooperation in
fighting terrorism in continuing despite differing
perspectives of our governments about the war in Iraq. It
would be unfortunate if some Yemeni volunteers were killed as
a result of engagement in hostilities in Iraq, and more
unfortunate if this led to unhappy families or vengeful
tribes who might take actions in Yemen contrary to our mutual
interests. Referring to the volunteers, Al-Iryani replied
simply: They made their own choice.


7. (C) COMMENT: We are unable to estimate the number of
would-be Yemeni volunteers, but Salih's thirty thousand
figure (reftel) no doubt is hyperbole. It is noteworthy that
the ROYG is actually stopping some volunteers, and to some
extent exposing its Arab flanks to opposition critics in
doing so. As Al-Iryani pointed out, however, some Yemeni
travelers may still be finding their way to Baghdad, via
Damascus and Amman, without the ROYG's blessing or
protection.
MISENHEIMER