DCM REGISTERS CONCERN ABOUT ZINDANI TRAVEL AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 003441

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/11/2015
TAGS: PREL PTER YM COUNTER TERRORISM TERFIN
SUBJECT: DCM REGISTERS CONCERN ABOUT ZINDANI TRAVEL AND
HAMAS PRESENCE IN YEMEN

Classified By: DCM NABEEL KHOURY, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) In a December 11 meeting, DCM told Deputy FonMin Mohy
al-Din al-Dhabi that the USG is very concerned that Abdul
Majid al-Zindani had traveled outside of Yemen, in an
apparent contravention of sanctions placed on him by the UN
Security Council's 1267 Committee. DCM said that Embassy and
Washington officials had noted Zindani's presence, which was
carried on local and international television, in the ROYG
delegation at an OIC gathering in Mecca on December 6. DCM
further pointed out that al-Dhabi had assured him on a
previous occasion that Zindani's "passport had expired and
would not be renewed." Al-Dhabi said he had no official
response at the time, but would pass the Embassy's concerns
to the Office of the President.


2. (C) In a follow-up meeting on December 12, al-Dhabi said
the ROYG had allowed Zindani to submit his visa application
to the Saudi embassy, expecting the Saudis to reject it.
ROYG officials were "surprised and embarrassed" when the
Saudis issued the visa, but Zindani is "politically powerful
in Yemen," al-Dhabi argued, "and we cannot confront him
without something in our pocket." Al-Dhabi reiterated the
ROYG's past requests for solid information on Zindani's links
to terrorists, assuring DCM that President Saleh would
"prosecute Zindani in Yemeni courts" if provided with
credible information.


3. (C) DCM also took the opportunity during the December 11
meeting to register the USG's regret that Hamas leader Khaled
Mish'al had visited Sanaa and had been received with great
fanfare, including a meeting with the President and
front-page, above-the-fold coverage in local newspapers. DCM
said regional governments, including the ROYG, should be
providing both concrete and moral support to the elected
Palestinian Authority, not to groups that continue to
violently oppose it. Al-Dhabi argued that Mish'al had been
invited as part of a conference on the status of Jerusalem
and "not as a political move," but admitted that the
government's media outlets "needed better guidance in
harmonizing the news with the Government's political aims."
He promised to pass the Embassy's concerns about the visit to
the Office of the President.


4. (C) In his December 12 follow-up meeting, al-Dhabi
claimed that the ROYG had invited PA officials to attend the
Jerusalem conference, but complained that "when we invite
them, they never come." DCM said Hamas was not a diplomatic
entity, so it did not make sense to put them at the same
level as the PA, and it was understandable that PA officials
would not want to attend gatherings at which Hamas was given
such high visibility. DCM added that encouraging Hamas with
high-level events such as this one was not helpful at a time
when that organization is still violently opposed to the
peace process.
Krajeski