AMBASSADOR AND IRYANI DISCUSS NEXT STEPS ON MIDDLE

UNCLAS SANAA 001569 SIPDIS PLEASE PASS TO G/NICOLE BIBBINS SEDACA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM KMPI DEMOCRATIC REFORM SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR AND IRYANI DISCUSS NEXT STEPS ON MIDDLE EAST DEMOCRACY CHARTER REF: A. STATE 94380 ¶B. SANAA 94352 ¶1. On June 6 Ambassador and Dr. Abd al-Karim al-Iryani discussed Yemen's Democracy Charter proposal unveiled at the May Community of Democracies meeting in Santiago, Chile. Presidential Advisor and former Foreign Minister Iryani attended the conference as a representative of Yemen's NGO community, along with Deputy Foreign Minister Mustafa Noman for the MFA. ¶2. Iryani told Ambassador that his regional counterparts responded positively to Yemen's proposal for a Middle East democracy charter. Iryani said that Arab League Secretary General Amr Musa was particularly interested in the charter. Iryani, however, stated that in his opinion the AL was not the best forum in which to advance the Yemeni proposal. Instead, Iryani advocates taking the issue to the regional NGO community in order to attain a broad consensus on a draft text from civil society. These groups could then shop the charter to their own governments and public to gage national views and illicit support. ¶3. Iryani suggests introducing a draft democracy charter for the Middle East at the January 2006 'Sanaa Two' Democracy and Human Rights Conference. (Note: The first conference, entitled "Sanaa Inter-Governmental Regional Conference on Democracy, Human Rights, and the Role of the International Criminal Court" was held January 2004. End Note). Krajeski