W/W VISIT - AMINA CORDEIRO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 001761

SIPDIS

OCS/ACS/NESA FOR LEIGH RIEDER
OCS/CI FOR JOAN CRISTINI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CASC
SUBJECT: W/W VISIT - AMINA CORDEIRO

REF: 04 JEDDAH 00431


1. (U) On June 6, 2005, Conoff and Senior ACS LES
visited with thirteen year old Amina Cordeiro at the
request of the left behind parent, Melissa Luna, who
currently lives in Dubai. The visit took place at the
house of Abdullah Al Johani, the prominent Jeddah lawyer
who represents the Bin Laden family. Also in attendance
were Derrick Cordeiro, Amina's father who currently
resides in Saudi Arabia; Pat Cordeiro, Derrick's new wife;
Isabel Bin Laden, Amina's grandmother (Derrick is her son);
and Kathleen Al Johani, Abdullah's wife.


2. (U) Amina is a bright young girl with a distinct touch
of mischief in her eyes. When she is not answering
questions, her mind is secretly at work, her eyes scanning
the audience and taking mental notes. At first, she was a
bit reluctant in the presence of her family and friends to
answer questions from a stranger. Yet when individual
conversations started between members of the group, Amina
began to speak more freely.


3. (U) Amina is just finishing the local equivalent of
eighth grade. She is studying at the Continental School,
which follows a British curriculum. It is exam time in
Saudi Arabia, which is a stressful time for many students.
Amina seemed calm and collected about the whole process,
and seemed to be cruising towards the end of the school
year. English is her favorite subject, and she predicted
a high score in that exam, even though she had difficulty
with some reading comprehension questions. When asked why
she does not have a British accent, the collective wisdom
of the group was that while her academic influences are
British, at home she hears exclusively American accents.
Amina is not a fan of geography. She complained that the
test questions were very difficult, and that she had a hard
time remembering which country was which.


4. (U) Like any typical eighth grader, Amina spends long
hours on the phone with her friends. Her father provided
her with her own cell phone as a Ramadan/birthday present,
and now her stepmother claims that Amina is looking for it
to be "surgically implanted". When asked what she talks
about on the phone, the rest of the group began murmuring
about an Egyptian boy at school, at which point Amina
started to look at the floor. The subject was quickly
changed.


5. (U) Amina has a cadre of four close friends that she
hangs out with at school. Sleepovers are common on the
weekends. Amina's father, rolling his eyes at the
possibility of yet another pre-teen function at his house,
says that he is very selective about whose house Amina is
allowed to go to. He prefers that Amina host her friends
rather than the other way around.


6. (U) When she is not on the phone or with her friends,
Amina dabbles in sports. She took tennis lessons for a few
months, and seems interested in resuming them. Ice skating
is also a favorite pastime, although she is rather picky
about which ice rink she goes to - the most popular rink in
Jeddah is not her favorite, because the quality of the
skates is not up to snuff. Horse riding lessons are
scheduled for sometime in the future, but Amina is a bit
anxious about them because she claims to be afraid of
heights.


7. (U) That theory does not hold water, however, as Amina
is a huge fan of roller coasters. She is a regular at Al
Shallal amusement park, a popular place for the teen set
in Jeddah. The secret, she says, is to sit in the middle
of the car and look at the head of the person in front of
you. That apparently prevents her from looking down in the
middle of an upside down section of the ride (her favorite
part). While she is no stranger to adrenaline-pumping
roller coasters, it was ironically a rogue piece of
pavement that caused Amina to fall and chip her front teeth
recently. Luckily, the roots were not damaged and the
dentist did a fantastic job of reconstructing her wonderful
smile.


8. (U) Amina claims to be an adventurous eater, but like
many kids her age she naturally gravitates towards fast
food. Pizza is her favorite dinner, yet she enjoys the
occasional hamburger just for variety. Amina avoids
spinach as a rule. Still, she diplomatically noted that "if
it's cooked the right way" it can in fact be edible.


9. (U) Avril Lavigne is her current singer of choice,
although she also likes an American singer called Mario.
When asked about Arabic music, Amina scrunched her nose.
She listens almost exclusively to American pop music.
During long hours in front of the television (much to the
dismay of her family),she still likes to watch cartoons.
The Powerpuff Girls is her favorite show, and her father
confessed to watching it with her more than once.


10. (SBU) Near the end of the visit, Amina and her
stepmother stepped outside so Derrick and his mother could
reiterate their concerns with Conoff. They maintain that
their offer to fly Amina's mother to Saudi Arabia and take
care of all her needs while visiting her daughter is still
open, in spite of their lack of confidence in her. They
also voiced concerns that Ms. Luna is not as proactive as
she used to be in contacting Amina. She used to send
boxes, letters, and emails that were very well received,
but now that correspondence is infrequent.


11. (SBU) The family also addressed the Interpol hit
placed on Derrick Cordeiro and his arrest in Lebanon.
Since the arrest, Amina has voiced fears that either she or
her father will be kidnapped. Amina's father said that the
incident had a profound effect on his child, and caused
this normally extroverted girl to become much more subdued.
The family is also concerned that the Bin Laden name could
be used as an excuse for further legal troubles outside of
Saudi Arabia. For that reason, and because Ms. Luna
plainly stated that it is her intent to take Amina to the
United States, they are no longer open to meetings with Ms.
Luna outside of Saudi Arabia.
ABERCROMBIE-WINSTANLEY