AMBASSADOR PRESENTS CREDENTIALS TO PRESIDENT SALEH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 001977

SIPDIS

STATE, PASS TO A/S BLOOMFIELD, SECDEF FOR DU/S, LUTI, NEESA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2005
TAGS: PGOV PREL YM
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR PRESENTS CREDENTIALS TO PRESIDENT SALEH

Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY DCM NABEEL KHOURY, FOR REASONS
1.5 (a) and (d)

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Summary:
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1. (SBU) On his second working day in Sanaa, Ambassador
Krajeski presented his credentials to President Ali Abdallah
Saleh in a ceremony that included seven other Ambassadors,
some of whom had waited three months to be invited to present
their papers. The ceremonies, full of all the appropriate
pomp and circumstance, included a courtesy meeting with Saleh
and Foreign Minister Qirbi. Beyond the expected opening
welcoming remarks, President Saleh did step lightly into a
couple of substantive remarks on U.S.-Yemeni relations.
Ambassador used the opportunity to ask Saleh directly to meet
with A/S Bloomfield as soon as his schedule permitted. End
Summary.

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Beyond the formalities:
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2. (C) Ambassador Krajeski expressed his personal delight at
assuming his responsibiilties in Sanaa and conveyed President
Bush and Secretary Powell's greetings and good wishes to
President Saleh. In his turn, President Saleh welcomed
Ambassador Krajeski and promised him the full cooperation of
the MFA and other Yemeni ministries and institutions to
assist him in supporting U.S. interests and in furthering
U.S.-Yemeni cooperation. President Saleh said, "We have been
excellent partners in the war against terrorism, now let's do
the same in the economic and commercial fields to combat
poverty and create jobs for the young and unemployed." Saleh
also unexpectedly made a seemingly cryptic comment on how the
U.S. Embassy sets the tone for other diplomatic missions in
Yemen and that its sticking closely to proper channels
encourages others to do so. He added, "Oh we know you will
have your own sources and that's fine, but please check your
stories with official channels for the sake of accuracy in
your understanding and reporting of Yemeni developments to
Washington."


3. (C) DCM later called FM Qirbi to provide answers on a
couple of queries the Minister had made earlier in the week
and used the opportunity to ask the FM for a clarification of
what the President meant in his remarks about official
channels. Qirbi said that the President meant to remind us to
coordinate carefully on any travel outside Sanaa. When
pressed by the DCM on the political aspect of the remark,
Qirbi confirmed that the President was referring to remarks
and opinions we might hear from others and wanted to make
sure those were properly balanced with the ROYG's official
point of view.

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The Bloomfield Visit:
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4. (C) Ambassador raised with Saleh the upcoming A/S
Bloomfield visit and how important it was for the President
to see Bloomfield to get our bilateral discussions on MANPADS
off to a good start. Saleh replied that the 24th of August
was not possible as he was leaving to the U.K. for an
official visit. A meeting in London was also not desirable as
Saleh's schedule is already tight. Saleh recommended instead
a meeting anytime after August 30th. Post will convey this
message in separate reporting to ARP and the A/S in order to
coordinate and fix a date for the visit.
KRAJESKI