AMBASSADOR NOTIFIES MFA OF YEMENI ENEMY COMBATANT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 002047 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2014 TAGS: KAWC PINR PREL PTER YM COUNTER TERRORISM SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR NOTIFIES MFA OF YEMENI ENEMY COMBATANT DETERMINATION REF: STATE 175727 Classified By: Ambassador Thomas C. Krajeski; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). (C) Ambassador notified Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi on August 22 that a Yemeni Guantanamo detainee was designated as an enemy combatant by the Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) per reftel. Ambassador assured the FM that the USG did not intend to release the nationality of detainees determined to be enemy combatants, but emphasized that press interest in the tribunal process is intense. Qirbi nodded, saying, "I think it will eventually become public -- it cannot be avoided." The FM asked that we continue to give advance notification of CSRT determinations involving Yemenis, explaining that having the information before it becomes public allows the ROYG to manage popular reaction and to provide consular/legal support to their citizens held in Guantanamo. KRAJESKI