FM AL-QIRBI HOPES COURT WILL "CORRECT" MOA'YAD

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 002082

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/10/2017
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV YM
SUBJECT: FM AL-QIRBI HOPES COURT WILL "CORRECT" MOA'YAD
VERDICT

REF: SANAA 2050

Classified By: AMBASSADOR STEPHEN A. SECHE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (U) On November 9, several mainstream Yemeni press
outlets ran stories on the announcement by Deputy Director of
the National Organization for Rights and Freedoms (HOOD)
Khaled al-Anesi, that attorneys for imprisoned terrorist
financier Sheikh Mohamed Ali al-Moa'yad and his companion
Zayed intended to appeal the verdict against the two in an
appellate court in New York on November 25. On the same day,
Foreign Minister AbuBakr al-Qirbi said in an interview that
he hopes the U.S. Appellate Court will "correct" the verdict.
The Foreign Minister went on to say that the trial of the
two men and the manner of their capture violated
international law. On November 8, both "Al-Thawra" and
"Al-Sahwa" ran a back page editorial by President Saleh's
cultural advisor Dr. Abdulaziz al-Maqaleh entitled "About the
Dilemma of the Noble Sheikh al-Moa'yad."


2. (C) HOOD is headed by al-Moa'yad lawyer Mohammed Naji
Alaw. When contacted by EMBOFF concerning the announced
appeal, al-Anesi said that he was in constant contact with
Alaw and clarified that the date of the appeal hearing is
November 26. Anesi went on to note that Alaw had received
permission to visit al-Moa'yad in Colorado on November 18 and
that he would be accompanied by the Consul from Yemen's
embassy in Washington. Anesi told EMBOFF that al-Moa'yad was
receiving what he described as "better treatment" than he had
previously but noted that al-Moa'yad is "mentally weak."


3. (C) Al-Qirbi's interview, reported on moatomer.net,
covered a variety of issues. When asked about al-Moa'yad's
case and ROYG efforts on al-Moa'yad's behalf he said the ROYG
was attempting to help him in two ways. First, the ROYG is
supporting the efforts of al-Moa'yad's family to gain his
release through legal channels in the United States.
Al-Qirbi noted that President Saleh had emphasized
al-Moa'yad's innocence to U.S. officials but pointed out that
under the U.S. system the executive branch can not intervene
directly until the judiciary had acted on the case. The
Foreign Minister went on to say that the second prong of ROYG
efforts involved intervening with the USG to ameliorate the
conditions under which al-Moa'yad is being held. (Note:
al-Anesi's comments would tend to indicate that the ROYG had
achieved this goal to some extent, for example through the
lifting of the Special Administrative Measures (SAMS). End
note.) Al-Maqaleh's editorial discussed in detail his long
relationship with al-Moa'yad. The two knew each other as
students and later as neighbors when al-Moa'yad was an Imam.
He wrote that al-Moa'yad called for tolerance between people
and did not support violence. He compared the method of
al-Moa'yad's capture to piracy and called on all Arabs and
Muslims to condemn al-Moa'yad's imprisonment and ask for his
release.


4. (C) Comment. The Saleh government finds itself in a
difficult position. On one hand, it is anxious to repair the
damage done to the bilateral relationship with the United
States by the Badawi affair and appears to be trying to
burnish its counterterrorism credentials by highlighting
recent CT victories (reftel). On the other hand, the Saleh
government, like others in the region, is loath to appear to
be giving in to Western pressure. In al-Moa'yad, the ROYG
likely believes it has an issue it can use to gain maximum
credit with its own people (al-Moa'yad is seen by Yemenis as
a pious man who is the victim of entrapment) with minimum
U.S. backlash (Moa'yad's age and ill-health seem to make him
unlikely to become a renewed threat). We expect to hear more
public discussion of the subject by official Yemeni sources
up to the time of the appeal hearing and immediately
thereafter.
SECHE