ROYG SAYS YEMEN HAS NO PLANS TO SEND TROOPS TO SOMALIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 001909 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2015 TAGS: PREL MARR SO ET IT YM SUBJECT: ROYG SAYS YEMEN HAS NO PLANS TO SEND TROOPS TO SOMALIA REF: A. STATE 131526 ¶B. SANAA 1836 Classified By: CDA Nabeel Khoury for reasons 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (C) Deputy Foreign Minister Mustafa Noman assured CDA on July 16 that there is no truth to Somali President Yusef's claim that Yemen plans to deploy forces to Somalia to help "protect government institutions," (ref A). ¶2. (C) Other ROYG officials of late have raised the issue of stability in Somalia, pressing for USG support for the new Somali Government and for the deployment of UN or Muslim coalition peacekeeping forces in the country (ref B). ¶3. (C) In the past year President Saleh has increasingly sought to bolster his credentials as statesmen by attempting or offering to mediate several conflicts in the Horn of Africa, including those between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and in Sudan and Somalia. The issue of Somalia is particularly salient due to the large number of Somali refugees in Yemen. President Saleh is likely to bring up the issue of increased U.S. support for a return of the Somali Government to Mogadishu when he meets with President Bush in November. Khoury