DESPERATE ROYG SPINS 'TALE OF TWO PRESIDENTS'

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 000747 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA/ARP FOR FULLER/ROEBUCK NEA/PPD FOR FOLEY/DOUGLAS/BENZE/AGNEW E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2018 TAGS: KPAO PGOV PREL YM SUBJECT: DESPERATE ROYG SPINS 'TALE OF TWO PRESIDENTS' REF: SANAA 585 Classified By: Ambassador Stephen A. Seche for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) ROYG-sponsored official media widely covered the April 25 telephone call between Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and U.S. President George Bush. All four major Yemeni government daily newspapers, as well as several international pan-Arab outlets, front-paged reports of the conversation, highlighting President Bush's "support for Yemen and its unity." Based on a press release distributed from President Saleh's press office, the conversation focused on issues of mutual cooperation, mainly counterterrorism. ¶2. (U) According to the report, President Bush affirmed USG keenness to promote the bilateral relationship with Yemen, while praising Yemen's democratic reforms. President Bush condemned recent terror attacks in Yemen and hailed the ROYG as a "key partner in the U.S. war on terror." President Bush was quoted as saying that "the U.S. stands by the stability and security of Yemen" and reiterating "U.S. support for Yemen's efforts in development, democracy and counterterrorism." President Bush was also quoted as supporting Yemen's its recent decision to hold gubernatorial elections. For his part, Saleh expressed his satisfaction in the growing Yemen-U.S. bilateral relationship, praising USG support for Yemen's efforts towards development, democratic reform, and fighting terrorism. ¶3. (U) The opposition media had its own take on the Saleh-POTUS conversation. The London-based website "Aden Press" quoted political sources as saying that President Bush did not condemn the recent terrorist attacks in Sana'a targeting American interests. Rather he criticized the ROYG's security failures, despite the financial and security support Washington had given Yemen for counterterrorism over the past seven years. The source said that President Bush's alleged statement of support for the ROYG's plan for the election of governors was "a fabrication of the government printing presses, meant to mislead the people." COMMENT -------------- ¶2. (C) Albeit it more ambitious than usual, this ROYG effort to spin the Presidential phone call to its advantage is simply the latest example of what has become standard media treatment of any Saleh meeting or conversation with another head of state/government (reftel). In this particular case, we believe the effort to portray POTUS as fully supportive of Yemen's unity reflects the deep concern at senior ROYG levels over the direction events in the south are heading, and the need to shore up its pro-unity position with positive comments from the party most likely to influence domestic public opinion. As offended as we might be by this exercise, we caution that any public disavowal of POTUS' ostensible comments would create fresh problems, calling into question our support for Yemen's unity and democracy and encouraging secessionist elements, further eroding Saleh's already weakened position. End comment. SECHE