YEMENI AMBASSADOR ON GUANTANAMO DETAINEES AND JUNE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 RIYADH 000795

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2019
TAGS: PREL PTER SA YE
SUBJECT: YEMENI AMBASSADOR ON GUANTANAMO DETAINEES AND JUNE
8 GCC MINISTERIAL

REF: SANAA 1015

Classified By: CDA AMBASSADOR RICHARD ERDMAN,
reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)


SUMMARY
--------------


1. (S) According to Yemeni Ambassador Al-Ahwal, President
Saleh, during his late May meeting with King Abdullah in
Riyadh, while professing to prefer that Yemeni Guantanamo
detainees be returned to Yemen, said Yemen "wouldn't mind"
if another country accepted them due to Yemen's lack of
resources and facilities. The King, in turn, made clear to
Saleh that Saudi Arabia preferred the detainees be returned
to Yemen. Ahwal was subsequently quoted in the Saudi press
as confirming that no agreement had been reached on returning
Yemeni detainees to Saudi Arabia. On the June 8 GCC
Ministerial in Riyadh, Ahwal told Charge that Yemen asked GCC
take an additional 500,000 Yemeni workers and proposed a Red
Sea countries, conference to deal with Somali piracy. In
the wake of Yemen's arrest of the leading al-Qaeda financier
for Yemen and Saudi Arabia, Ahwal was quoted in the June 15
Saudi press as confirming that "Saudi-Yemeni security
coordination is in place," would continue, and was
"manifested in the exchange of information and detainees."
End Summary.


NO AGREEMENT REACHED ON
SAUDIS TAKING YEMENI DETAINEES
--------------


2. (S) Yemeni Ambassador Mohammed Al-Ahwal was quoted in the
June 14 Saudi press as confirming that President Saleh,
during his late May visit to Riyadh, had discussed the issue
of Yemeni Guantanamo detainees with King Abdullah, but that
no agreement had yet been reached (about Saudi Arabia
accepting these detainees). Privately, in separate comments
to the Charge and DCM , Ahwal made clear that King Abdullah
was not prepared to accept Yemeni detainees and wanted them
returned to Yemen. Saleh told the King he preferred to have
the detainees returned to Yemen, Ahwal added, but said
Yemen would need money and would need to decide "how to keep"
the detainees and "find people who can talk to them," i.e.,
new holding facilities and prisoner rehabilitation experts.
With the Saudi prisoner rehabilitation program clearly in
mind, Saleh told the King that if another country were
willing to take the Yemeni detainees, the Yemeni government
"wouldn't mind." (Comment: This account suggests that Saleh,
sensing that the Saudis were not ready to agree to take the
detainees, stopped short of a direct request.)

SALEH'S OTHER AGENDA ITEMS
--------------


3. (C) Al-Ahwal insisted that relations with Saudi Arabia
were "very good." Saleh's June 2 visit was his second in six
months. He had come principally to thank the King for his
unwavering support for Yemeni unification in the face of
Houthi and southern rebels cooperating with Al-Qaeda. At the
moment "everything was under control" in Yemen. He had also
come to seek Saudi support for Yemen's request that the GCC
take an additional 500,000 Yemeni workers, noting that there
were now about a million Yemeni workers already in Saudi
Arabia.) Finally, Yemen wanted support for its proposal to
convene a conference of countries bordering the Red Sea to
support the provisional Somali government's efforts to combat
piracy.

YEMENI GCC REQUEST
--------------


4. (C) Al-Ahwal said that following up on Saleh's visit,
Yemeni Foreign Minister Qirbi had attended a GCC ministerial
meeting held in Riyadh June 8 to press the Yemeni request
that GCC members allow 500,000 Yemenis to work in their
countries. The foreign ministers decided to refer the matter
to the GCC's Labor Ministers for further study. While the
Saudis didn't respond to the Yemeni request, Al-Ahwal felt
they were supportive of having the matter further studied.

CONTINUING SAUDI-YEMENI
COUNTER-TERRORISM COOPERATION
--------------


5. (U) June 15 Saudi press reported Yemeni Interior
Ministry's announcement that Hassan Hussein Alwan, a Saudi
national and a leading financier for al-Qaeda in Yemen and
Saudi Arabia, was arrested two days earlier in eastern Yemen.

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Yemeni Ambassador Ahwal was quoted in the Saudi press as
saying that "Saudi-Yemeni security coordination is in place,
and manifested in the exchange of information and detainees."
"Cooperation between the two countries will continue to
fight terrorism," Ahwal added.
ERDMAN