REPORTS OF SALEH MEETING WITH EXILED OPPOSITION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 002126 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/18/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM YM SUBJECT: REPORTS OF SALEH MEETING WITH EXILED OPPOSITION LIKELY UNTRUE REF: SANAA 1859 Classified By: Classified by DCM Angie Bryan for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) . 1.(U) On November 15, the independent weekly al-Ibhar reported that President Ali Abdullah Saleh met with exiled opposition leaders in Cairo the previous week. Saleh was said to have met with united Yemen's first prime minister, Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas, and South Yemen's former president, Ali Naser Mohammed. According to al-Ibhar, "reliable sources" cited that opposition leaders made several demands during the meeting, including calling for the formation of a national coalition government presided over by the ruling party, in preparation for the upcoming 2009 parliamentary elections. In return, the exiled opposition leaders said they would support President Saleh's political reform initiative (see reftel). Members of the ruling party's permanent committee met with the President in Aden on November 15 and were reported by al-Ibhar to have agreed to the exiled opposition's proposal. 2.(C) Poloff spoke to three prominent Yemeni journalists, all of whom knew nothing of such a meeting and expressed doubt that it took place. Ahmed al-Hajj of Associated Press said that he believed Nasr Mohammed was in Abu Dhabi, not Cairo, at the time of the alleged meeting. After calling unidentified members of the GPC ruling party to inquire about the reported November 15 meeting with President Saleh and the permanent committee, GPC officials told al-Hajj in confidence that they had been told neither of such a meeting nor of the exiled opposition's demands the GPC reportedly agreed to. Nabil Soufi, opposition journalist for News Yemen, was shocked to hear from poloff that a press report said Nasr Mohammed had met with Saleh. Mohammed al-Ghobari of al-Bayan Emirati daily said that al-Attas may have agreed to meet Saleh, but it is certain that Naser Mohammed would not have attended the meeting or made such demands. Both the assistant secretary general of the opposition Islah party, Dr. Mohamed al-Saadi, and the head of Yemen Socialist Party's (YSP) media sector and member of the YSP's politburo, Ali al-Sarari, said they were not aware of any such meeting. Al-Sarari added that Nasr MohammedQs still a member of the YSP and his party wQld have been Qld of such an event. 3.(C) Comment: The inability of prominent Yemeni journalists and opposition party members to confirm the meeting between Saleh and exiled opposition leaders raises doubt that a meeting took place. Triumphant pictures of Ali Nasr Mohammed as president have been prominently displayed during recent southern protests against northern rule. Many believe that this has enraged Saleh, who is currently attempting to disrupt the southern opposition movement by producing such a story. Although post cannot confirm that the al-Ibhar news report was a leak from the ROYG, we conclude that it is unlikely such an event took place. Ali Nasr was also reported by Yemeni press this month to have survived two assassination attempts in Arab capitals, making the Yemeni public more suspicious about Saleh's relations with exiled opposition leaders. Post will continue to follow the matter. End Comment. SECHE