SANAA MEDIA REACTION -- GENERAL ABIZAID VISIT,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SANAA 003387

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA, NEA/ARP, NEA/PD, NEA/RA, DS/OP/NEA AND
S/CT
CENTCOM FOR POLAD
NEA/PPD FOR AFERNANDEZ
THE WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC
UNCLASSIFIED

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KDEM KMPI PGOV PHUM PREL YM
SUBJECT: SANAA MEDIA REACTION -- GENERAL ABIZAID VISIT,
SOLIDARITY WITH AL JAZEERA, MEHLIS REPORT, JMP REFORM
INITIATIVE, ET AL.

Following paragraphs cover November 22 - 29


1. ABIZAID VISIT: Yemeni newspapers gave above-the-fold
coverage to the two-day visit of Commander-in-Chief General
John Abizaid of U.S. Central Command to Yemen. Al-Thawrwa
(official government daily) reported that General Abizaid
and President Saleh discussed bilateral cooperation in
security and counterterrorism.


2. AL-JAZEERA REPORT: Local media reported on several
demonstrations staged in solidarity with Al-Jazeera
following an unsubstantiated report in the UK's Daily Mirror
that President Bush had proposed the bombing of Al-Jazeera's
Doha headquarters. On November 25, Al-Sahwa (Islah Party
weekly) reported that the Joint Meeting Party (coalition of
opposition parties) issued a statement in solidarity and
requested a UN probe. On November 27, NewsYemen.net
(independent news site) reported that the Yemeni
Journalists' Syndicate also staged a sit-in in support of Al-
Jazeera. On November 29, Al-Sahwa quoted Nasser Taha
Mustafa, Chairman of the official Saba News Agency that "the
U.S. silence about the report is a clear indication of its
authenticity."


3. PRESS FREEDOM: On November 21, Almotamar.net (website
of ruling GPC party) reported a demand by the Yemeni
Journalists' Syndicate that the press law providing for
imprisonment of journalists should be abolished. On
November 23, journalist Hafez Al-Bokari, YJS Secretary-
General, resigned his syndicate post. In a statement which
Al-Bokari sent to media contacts and to post, he described
the YJS as "paralyzed" and under attack both from outside
forces and from internal pressures imposed by YJS board
members close to the government. On November 28, the Yemen
Times reported that a Sana'a court banned the newspaper
Attajamu' (weekly, affiliated with the Unionist Congregation
Party) from publication for six months for publishing
reports "ridiculing Islam and touching on public security"
and banned two journalists connected with the paper from
publishing any articles for one year. [Note: The article
which generated the verdict was an August 2005 retrospective
regarding street fighting in 1968 between royalist
supporters and Sha'afi militants. End note.]


4. SWISS TOURISTS: On November 21, most press sources
reported the kidnapping of two Swiss tourists near Marib.
The kidnapper reportedly expressed no political demands, but
asked only for the release of his imprisoned brother. On
November 22, the two tourists were released and returned to
Sanaa.


7. CHILD LABOR: On November 28, the Yemen Observer
(English-language weekly; publisher is President Saleh's
personal media advisor) carried news of a Ministry of Labor
report estimating the number of child laborers at 500,000.
Other media sources over the past week estimated the figure
at 400,000.


5. HUNT OIL ARBITRATION PROCEEDINGS: On November 22,
Raynews (website of liberal opposition Rabita Party) carried
straight reporting about Hunt Oil's decision to resort to
arbitration with the International Chamber of Commerce in
Paris against the government of Yemen for remuneration over
the allegedly illegal expropriation of an oil production
block operated by Hunt since 1982.


6. MEHLIS REPORT: Press commentary on the Mehlis Report
has been uniformly supportive of Syria and critical of the
United States. On November 27, however, Al-Thawra quoted FM
Al-Qirbi that Yemen "welcomes the agreement" between Syria
and Mehlis to interrogate Syrian officials in Vienna.


7. JMP REFORM INITIATIVE: On November 27, most opposition
media sources and some (though not all) official sources
reported on the Joint Meeting Parties (coalition of
opposition parties) announcement of a political reform
initiative aimed at peaceful steps, without outside
assistance, to arrest the "deteriorating political, social,
and economic climate" in Yemen. The JMP initiative elicited
a swift reaction from the government. According to Al-
Sahwa.net (Islah Party news site) Sultan Al-Barakani, head
of the GPC parliamentary bloc, demanded from the floor of
Parliament the formation of a committee to investigate the
initiative and branded it "an incitement" against the
country and accused the JMP of "treason" and of "throwing
themselves into the arms of foreign powers." A commentary
by the editor-in-chief of Al-Motamar.net (GPC website)
criticized the initiative as "unconstitutional, traitorous
and separatist." Mohammed al-Yadoumi, Secretary-General of
the Islah party, accused the government of attempting to
undermine any initiative for reform and called an open
dialogue.
KHOURY