IMPROVED YEMEN-SAUDI COOPERATION, BUT STILL NO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANAA 000724

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/29/2014
TAGS: PREL PTER ASEC PBTS SA YM COUNTER TERRORISM
SUBJECT: IMPROVED YEMEN-SAUDI COOPERATION, BUT STILL NO
SPECIFICS ON BORDER SECURITY PLAN

REF: A. FBIS GMP20040325000188


B. FBIS GMP20040321000191

C. SANAA 414

D. SANAA 318

E. RIYADH 822

Classified By: Ambassador Edmund J. Hull, for reasons 1.5 (b and d)


1. (c) Summary: Saudi Poloff al-Mqhm told Pol/Econ Chief on
3/27 that there is strong interest in Saudi-Yemen
cooperation, including projected committee meetings to
develop a joint strategy for border security. He confirmed
that because of concerns over smuggling, the SAG opted to
construct a "pipe fence" to prevent the movement of people,
goods and weapons and that President Saleh's February visit
to Riyadh resulted in an agreement between the Ministries of
Interior (refs c-d). Although he commented favorably on
increased security cooperation and prisoner exchanges,
al-Mqhm insisted that there is no timeframe for a joint
committee to meet to discuss border issues or for the pipe
fence to be dismantled. He expects that the issue of border
security will be discussed at the next meeting of the
"Supreme Yemen-Saudi Cooperation Council," which he believes
will be hosted in Riyadh, possibly as early as May 2004.
Saudi Poloff was unable to confirm reports from ROYG
officials of a joint border security plan that purportedly
includes watchtowers, roads and vehicular border patrols.
Al-Mqhm evaded questions on the now-postponed Arab League
summit in Tunis and denied that there are any actions planned
to follow-up on the 3/21 Saudi Foreign Minister's visit to
Yemen. End summary.

POSITIVE ON COOPERATION, BUT VAGUE ON DETAILS OF NEXT STEPS


2. (c) On March 27, Pol/Econ Chief met with Saudi First
Secretary Badr Abdulmuhsen al-Mqhm to discuss plans for

SIPDIS
Yemen-Saudi cooperation. Al-Mqhm was very positive about
on-going security exchanges, including information and the
recent swap of eight Yemeni nationals for five Saudis (ref
b),but was unable to provide details on the nature of the
information or the names of the prisoners. Al-Mqhm was very
open about the SAG's concerns about smuggling of people,
goods, arms and cars across the Saudi-Yemen land border, and
said that the SAG commissioned the pipe fence to prohibit
such traffic in known problem areas. He was adamant that the
pipe has not been dismantled, and did not seem sure that it
would in fact be dismantled.


3. (c) When asked about the 3/21 visit of Saudi Foreign
Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal to Sana'a, al-Mqhm was
noncommittal on the outcome and unable to comment on any
follow-up to the visit. Similarly, when questioned about the
Arab League Summit in Tunis, he quickly changed the subject
without providing any answer.

UNABLE TO CONFIRM DETAILS OF BORDER SECURITY PLAN OUTLINED IN
ROYG MEETINGS


4. (c) At a February 24 meeting on another matter, Ministry
of Interior Chief of Staff Brigadier General Ahmed Sunidar
outlined a Yemen-Saudi border security plan for Pol/Econ
Chief and CTC that included guard watchtowers on alternating
sides of the border in an a zig-zag pattern with a road along
the border for roving car patrols. Citing ROYG resource
constraints, he said that the SAG would pay for the
infrastructure and that both countries would supply border
guards. Note: Responsibility for border security recently
passed from MOD to MOI, which has formulated an ambitious
plan for MOI border guards/security, but has not been able to
begin implementation. End Note.


5. (c) Al-Mqhm denied that there is agreement on a plan or
arrangements for financing any security measures, but said a
joint committee would be formulated to discuss the matter.
When asked about a timeframe, he said he believed the border
issue and the establishment of the committee would be taken
up during the next "Yemen-Saudi Cooperation Council" meeting
in Riyadh, which he thought was scheduled to meet the month
after the (now canceled) Arab League meeting in Tunis, i.e.,
in May. Note: This is likely a reference to the Supreme
Yemeni-Saudi Coordination Council, which meets once a year
under the chairmanship of Yemeni PM Ba Jammal and Prince
Sultan, the Saudi Second Deputy Prime Minister. The last
meeting of the council was convened in Sana'a in 7 July,
2003, and a number of cooperation agreements were signed.
End note. He agreed that whatever the shape of the border
patrol/security plan, the ROYG was likely to request the SAG
provide significant financial assistance.

COMMENT: THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS


6. (c) Comment: While there seems to be an understanding that
a joint committee will be formulating a border security plan,
al-Mqhm's statements that no committee exists is in sharp
contrast to public statements by Yemeni FM Abu-Bakr al-Qirbi
(ref a),and a private statement by another MFA official (ref
c) that President Saleh's February 2/17-18 visit to Riyadh
produced an agreement and a committee had been formed to
address the border. Even allowing that although al-Mqhm is
well known to other Emboffs this was his initial meeting with
Pol/Econ Chief and he may have been reluctant to go into
detail on sensitive subjects, it does not appear that the two
sides are fully in sync on this issue or that the Saudis are
completely on board with the blueprint for joint monitoring
of the border outlined to Emboffs in recent meetings with
Yemeni officials from two separate agencies. End comment.
HULL