INTERIOR MINISTER CONFIRMS AL-BANNA IN JAIL,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 000881 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/19/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER YM SUBJECT: INTERIOR MINISTER CONFIRMS AL-BANNA IN JAIL, AL-BADAWI TO BE TRIED REF: (A) SANAA 798 (B) STATE 50900 Classified By: Ambassador Stephen A. Seche for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. In the course of an hour-long meeting on May 18, Minister of Interior Rashad al-Alimi confirmed to the Ambassador that convicted al-Qaeda operative Jabr al-Banna had been re-arrested after his latest appearance in court. Alimi also confirmed the ROYG's intention to pursue additional charges against convicted USS Cole bomber Jamal al-Badawi. The Minister asked for additional support from the USG to combat Al Qaeda in Yemen (AQY),but had little progress to report on the pursuit of those responsible for the recent attacks in Sana'a. Alimi downplayed the possibility of a draft counterterrorism law passing through the parliament, noting strong resistance from the opposition. On the issue of stemming the foreign fighter flow from Yemen, Alimi asserted that increased cooperation with Syria was yielding results. End Summary. PROGRESS ON AL-BANNA AND AL-BADAWI -------------- ¶2. (C) Repeatedly through the meeting, Alimi asked that an "accurate picture" of the ROYG's counterterrorism achievements be communicated to Washington. When the Ambassador asked about the promise made by President Saleh to arrest Jabr al-Banna at his next court appearance (see ref a),Alimi made a phone call and confirmed that Banna had indeed been arrested just minutes before by order of the court. Alimi explained that he personally had called the Minister of Justice to come up with the justification to arrest Banna. (Note: Local media throughout the day reported that Banna had been taken into custody. End Note.) ¶3. (C) On Badawi, Alimi confirmed that investigations had begun in order to pursue new charges against the convicted terrorist in connection with his escape from prison and any crimes he may have committed while free. (Note: LegAtt conducted a 'surprise' visit on Badawi on the evening of May 18, and was able to see him within 23 minutes from the time of the initial call requesting access. It would have been quicker, but guards first produced Jabr al-Banna, allowing LegAtt to visually confirm his presence in the PSO facility as well. End note.) Alimi added that he hoped these positive steps would help convince the USG of his personal commitment as the "number one responsible official for security cooperation" in Yemen. CLOSING THE FOREIGN FIGHTER PIPELINE -------------- ¶4. (C) In response to the Ambassador's observation that the continued flow of foreign fighters into Iraq remains an issue of deep concern and to the Foreign Fighter Pipeline demarche requested in ref b, Alimi outlined measures the ROYG has taken to stem the flow: a) More rigorous screening of departing passengers in Sana'a, a number of whom have been refused permission to board their flights. b) Re-routing of flights from Syria to Yemen so that all passengers must disembark in Sana'a and undergo security screening here before continuing on to regional airports. c) Increased levels of Yemeni-Syrian cooperation that have led the Syrian government to detain and deport several Yemeni nationals, some of whom were subsequently arrested. Al-Alimi said that he was reluctant to turn over these cases to the judiciary, for fear that they would be released. MOVEMENT AGAINST OTHER AQY ELEMENTS -------------- ¶5. (C) Alimi noted the arrests of a number of suspected AQY operatives in recent weeks. He noted that the ROYG was compiling good information from the detainees. The Minister credited systematic security sweeps and checkpoints throughout Sana'a that have been organized in the last month cooperatively by ROYG security services. However, he admitted, the current batch of AQY arrestees had not yet been linked to the recent attacks in Sana'a, speculating that they may be from a different cell. ¶6. (C) Alimi also indicated that the ROYG was preparing to strike at AQY assets and personnel outside of Sana'a, including in Abyan governorate. He said that the ROYG has been monitoring activities in the region in preparation for an operation. He noted that the AQY elements in Abyan were difficult to strike at, and said that two previous attempts to neutralize these particular targets had failed. YEMENI CT LAW DEAD ON ARRIVAL -------------- ¶7. (C) The Ambassador inquired about the status of the long-awaited counterterrorism law, and Alimi said that it was unlikely that the law would be ratified by the Parliament any time soon. He said that "Islamist and opposition" figures had politicized the issue of the CT law in order to embarrass and obstruct the ROYG and the ruling GPC party. He said that opposition MPs - and some GPC MPs - intended to use the issue of the law during the 2009 parliamentary elections. Alimi feared that the law would be portrayed as an attempt by the ROYG to clamp down on the rights and activities of ordinary Yemenis, and therefore felt it would be a very hard sell in an election season. ¶8. (C) Comment. Alimi clearly was prepared for the Ambassador's queries regarding President Saleh's assurances of corrective action in the cases of Jabr al-Banna and Jamal al-Badawi, and seemed pleased to be able to offer good news. Our challenge now is to acknowledge appropriately each positive step forward, and in doing so encourage additional progress, even as we remind the ROYG that much more needs to be done to restore lost confidence. End Comment. SECHE