SALEH ACCEPTS GTMO DETAINEES, DOES NOT BACK DOWN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANAA 003137

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2015
TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM KDEM YM COUNTER TERRORISM TERFIN DEMOCRATIC REFORM
SUBJECT: SALEH ACCEPTS GTMO DETAINEES, DOES NOT BACK DOWN
ON PRESS FREEDOMS, AND IS UNCLEAR ON SA/LW COMMITMENTS

REF: STATE 195442

Classified By: AMBASSADOR THOMAS C. KRAJESKI, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (
D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: President Saleh told Ambassador on October
25 that his government would accept all Yemeni detainees from
Guantanamo Bay, provided the USG passes all relevant
information on their cases so that they can be charged and
tried in local courts, as appropriate. Saleh agreed to
criminalize arms trading, but only after current, already
paid-for deals are processed through the Ministry of Defense
(MOD). He said he fully supported the MCC process and would
provide the USG with the ROYG's plans for comprehensive
economic and other reforms while in Washington on November 8
- 12. He rejected the notion that Yemen's growing
restrictions on press freedom and harassment of journalists
signaled a slow-down in democratic progress. Press freedoms
are an internal affair, Saleh asserted, and the USG should
not focus on such "small issues." Ambassador disagreed,
noting that there cannot be democracy without freedom of the
press, and that the progress we have made on countering
terrorism could unravel without democratic progress.


2. (C) The ROYG has and will continue to use its influence
with Palestinian groups, including Hamas, to support the
Palestinian Authority and give up violence. Saleh reiterated
his desire to see Mohammed al-Moayyad serve the rest of his
prison term in Yemen, and encouraged the USG to "stop making
a hero of Zindani" by continuing to pursue UN sanctions
against him. END SUMMARY

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GTMO: We'll Take Them
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3. (C) In response to Ambassador's delivery of reftel
points, President Saleh said he wanted his upcoming visit to
Washington to consist of discussion and not turn into "an
interrogation." To that end, he was prepared to accept all
Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo Bay, but insisted that the
USG provide him with "all the files" on each detainee so that
the ROYG could "charge them for disrupting Yemen's good
relations with its allies" in local courts. Asked for
written assurances, Saleh said as President of the State of
Yemen, he was making a formal order, so no written assurances
were required. (NOTE: Post will attempt to obtain a
diplomatic note from the MFA in response to our notes on this
topic.)

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DEMOCRACY AND PRESS FREEDOM
--------------


4. (C) Saleh said he felt that the United States was
"demeaning itself" by focusing on "small internal affairs"
such as the mistreatment of journalists, when it should be
talking about more strategic issues with Yemen, such as how
to deal with Iraq, Syria and the Palestinian question. Yemen
recognized the value of democracy and embarked on that path
after unification in 1990 on its own; it does not need
"instructions" from foreign powers on how to continue making
progress. The President felt that Ambassador's recent
comments to the press about the stalling of democratic
progress in Yemen were "undiplomatic" and should have been
made in private channels. The Embassy was becoming an
"office for receiving complaints from journalists and
oppositionists," he complained.


5. (C) Ambassador disagreed, stating that freedom of the
press was not a "small issue," and that, in fact, there could
be no democracy without a free press. The lack of democracy,
he continued, threatened to unravel all of the progress the
United States and Yemen had made in combating terrorism and
reducing poverty. For these reasons, democracy is of major
concern to the United States, and Saleh should be prepared to
explain himself to POTUS and reporters during his visit.
Ambassador reminded Saleh that he had earned a reputation for
his stated commitments to democracy and press freedom, but
that reputation is being harmed by the ROYG's recent actions.


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SA/LW: OLD DEALS STILL IN PIPELINE
--------------


6. (C) Asked about information that Yemeni arms brokers are
still procuring weapons from foreign suppliers despite
Saleh's commitment to ban such activity, Saleh said these are
deals that were concluded before his policy change that are
"still in the pipeline." He assured Ambassador that MOD was
"watching closely" to ensure that none of the weapons fell
into the wrong hands. Saleh claimed that arms procurements
by non-government brokers would be criminalized after these
deals and anyone found violating the law would be brought to
court because "these people make problems for Yemeni
society." Saleh did not offer a response to Ambassador's
reiteration of the USG's offer to create an inventory control
system within the MOD.

--------------
REFORM: I HAVE A PLAN
--------------


7. (C) President Saleh said he planned to unveil a "5-10
year reform plan" during his visit to Washington, addressing
judicial, administrative, political, human rights, and
economic reform. He said he is looking forward to discussing
ways the USG can support the plan bilaterally through the MCC
process, and by using its influence with other donors. The
plan will target issues, such as unemployment, that are key
to reducing poverty and corruption.

--------------
HAMAS/PIJ
--------------


8. (C) Asked to voice support for the Palestinian Authority
(PA),to denounce violent opposition to it, and to tell Hamas
and other groups that there will be no support for them in
the Arab world as long as they use violence to oppose the
Palestinian leadership. Saleh responded by saying that Yemen
will use its influence with "all Palestinian groups" to
convince them to support the PA and give up violence.

--------------
Moayyad and Zindani
--------------


9. (C) Saleh said he looked forward to positive meetings
and discussions in Washington with the President and senior
officials on all of these issues, but that he also hoped to
raise the issues of Mohammed Moayyad's continued detention in
the United States and the de-listing of Abdulmajeed
al-Zindani on UN sanctions lists. Saleh reiterated his
desire to see Moayyad transferred to Yemen so that he could
"serve out the remainder of his jail term here." He
encouraged the USG to "share its information on Zindani" if
it has any, or otherwise to drop the case, as the continued
public spotlight from the United States and the United
Nations were "only making a hero" out of him and were
contributing to his ability to raise money in the region.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


10. (C) Saleh offered few surprises in this meeting. He
was smart enough to recognize that the Guantanamo detainee
issue was truly a red line for the USG, and that his visit
could be canceled if he did not accept to take back his own
citizens. Saleh unfortunately continues to be tone deaf when
it comes to press freedom, its importance to democracy, and
the emphasis the USG places on it. His continued promises on
SA/LW control are less and less reliable, but we are
optimistic that there may be some substance to his reform
plan, as ROYG officials and Parliament have shown increasing
boldness on certain economic reforms over the past several
months. Under a fair amount of public pressure, Saleh
appears to hope that the USG will help him find a way to make
the Moayyad and Zindani issues "go away" but does not
demonstrate a great deal of understanding for the reasons why
action has been taken against these two men.
Krajeski