EMBASSY SHOOTER SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS

S E C R E T SANAA 002091

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ARP DS/IP/NEA, DS/DSS/ITA, DS/ICI/PII, DS/ICI/CI,
NEA/EX, S/CT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/12/2017
TAGS: PREL PTER PGOV KISL YM
SUBJECT: EMBASSY SHOOTER SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS

REF: A. 06 SANAA 3182

B. IIR 6 906 0050 07

C. 07 SANAA 2072

D. 07 SANAA 2050

E. 06 SANAA 3180

F. 06 SANAA 3183

G. 06 SANAA 3247

H. 07 SANAA 00030

I. 07 SANAA 429

Classified By: Ambassador Stephen A. Seche for reasons 1.4 (b),(c) and
(d)


1. (C) On November 12, a Yemeni state security court
sentenced Saleh Mohammad Salim al-Ammari to five years in
prison for opening fire on the US Embassy in Sana'a on
December 5, 2006 (ref a). (Note: Original reports listed
the shooter's name as Saleh Mohammed Salem Alawi. End note.)
Lawyers familiar with the case told the Embassy on November
12 that al-Ammari was sentenced under Yemeni Criminal Law No.
12 passed in 1994. (Note: Post is attempting to clarify the
specific charge. Yemen lacks an effective counterterrorism
law. End Note.) According to a report by the official news
agency Saba, the prosecution charged that the gunman was
seeking to "damage Yemen's diplomatic relations." Press
reports indicate that the defendant's lawyers have appealed
the sentence and that his family has appealed for his release
based on mental instability brought on by his bankruptcy,
inability to obtain a visa to travel to Saudi Arabia, and his
age, which they say was 17 years at the time of the attack.
(Note: The family's claim that he was 17 years old at the
time of the attack conflicts with official reports that he
was 19 years old at the time of his conviction less than 12
months later. End Note.)


2. (S) Opposition Nasserite Party news website
Al-Wahdawi.net reported on 11/13 that prosecutors told the
court in April that Al-Ammari attacked the Embassy after
listening to tapes calling for jihad against the United
States. This jibes with photos in a preliminary report on
the incident acquired by the Embassy in mid-December 2006.
While the report did not comment directly on Al-Ammari's
motives, it included a photo that showed purported extremist
cassette tapes and a cassette player belonging to the shooter
(ref b). The fact, however, that the same report contained a
photo that had been visibly altered does raise some doubts
about its veracity.


3. (C) Comment. This case has been in process since April.
It is therefore unlikely that the timing of the sentencing
is directly related to recent ROYG efforts to highlight its
"tough-on-terror" credentials in the wake of the Badawi
incident (refs c, d, et al). End Comment.

FINAL EVALUATION OF CASE
--------------


4. (SBU) Post has monitored the case since the attack and has
received excellent cooperation from the Host Government.
Refs a,e,f,g,h and i represent Post's reporting on the
incident. Post considers the case closed.
SECHE