US embassy cable - 04SANAA724

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANAA 000724 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/29/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, ASEC, PBTS, SA, YM, COUNTER TERRORISM 
SUBJECT: IMPROVED YEMEN-SAUDI COOPERATION, BUT STILL NO 
SPECIFICS ON BORDER SECURITY PLAN 
 
REF: A. FBIS GMP20040325000188 
 
     B. FBIS GMP20040321000191 
     C. SANAA 414 
     D. SANAA 318 
     E. RIYADH 822 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Edmund J. Hull, for reasons 1.5 (b and d) 
 
1. (c) Summary:  Saudi Poloff al-Mqhm told Pol/Econ Chief on 
3/27 that there is strong interest in Saudi-Yemen 
cooperation, including projected committee meetings to 
develop a joint strategy for border security.  He confirmed 
that because of concerns over smuggling, the SAG opted to 
construct a "pipe fence" to prevent the movement of people, 
goods and weapons and that President Saleh's February visit 
to Riyadh resulted in an agreement between the Ministries of 
Interior (refs c-d).  Although he commented favorably on 
increased security cooperation and prisoner exchanges, 
al-Mqhm insisted that there is no timeframe for a joint 
committee to meet to discuss border issues or for the pipe 
fence to be dismantled.  He expects that the issue of border 
security will be discussed at the next meeting of the 
"Supreme Yemen-Saudi Cooperation Council," which he believes 
will be hosted in Riyadh, possibly as early as May 2004. 
Saudi Poloff was unable to confirm reports from ROYG 
officials of a joint border security plan that purportedly 
includes watchtowers, roads and vehicular border patrols. 
Al-Mqhm evaded questions on the now-postponed Arab League 
summit in Tunis and denied that there are any actions planned 
to follow-up on the 3/21 Saudi Foreign Minister's visit to 
Yemen.  End summary. 
 
POSITIVE ON COOPERATION, BUT VAGUE ON DETAILS OF NEXT STEPS 
 
2. (c) On March 27, Pol/Econ Chief met with Saudi First 
Secretary Badr Abdulmuhsen al-Mqhm to discuss plans for 
 
SIPDIS 
Yemen-Saudi cooperation.  Al-Mqhm was very positive about 
on-going security exchanges, including information and the 
recent swap of eight Yemeni nationals for five Saudis (ref 
b), but was unable to provide details on the nature of the 
information or the names of the prisoners.  Al-Mqhm was very 
open about the SAG's concerns about smuggling of people, 
goods, arms and cars across the Saudi-Yemen land border, and 
said that the SAG commissioned the pipe fence to prohibit 
such traffic in known problem areas.  He was adamant that the 
pipe has not been dismantled, and did not seem sure that it 
would in fact be dismantled. 
 
3. (c) When asked about the 3/21 visit of Saudi Foreign 
Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal to Sana'a, al-Mqhm was 
noncommittal on the outcome and unable to comment on any 
follow-up to the visit.  Similarly, when questioned about the 
Arab League Summit in Tunis, he quickly changed the subject 
without providing any answer. 
 
UNABLE TO CONFIRM DETAILS OF BORDER SECURITY PLAN OUTLINED IN 
ROYG MEETINGS 
 
4. (c) At a February 24 meeting on another matter, Ministry 
of Interior Chief of Staff Brigadier General Ahmed Sunidar 
outlined a Yemen-Saudi border security plan for Pol/Econ 
Chief and CTC that included guard watchtowers on alternating 
sides of the border in an a zig-zag pattern with a road along 
the border for roving car patrols.  Citing ROYG resource 
constraints, he said that the SAG would pay for the 
infrastructure and that both countries would supply border 
guards.  Note: Responsibility for border security recently 
passed from MOD to MOI, which has formulated an ambitious 
plan for MOI border guards/security, but has not been able to 
begin implementation.  End Note. 
 
5. (c) Al-Mqhm denied that there is agreement on a plan or 
arrangements for financing any security measures, but said a 
joint committee would be formulated to discuss the matter. 
When asked about a timeframe, he said he believed the border 
issue and the establishment of the committee would be taken 
up during the next "Yemen-Saudi Cooperation Council" meeting 
in Riyadh, which he thought was scheduled to meet the month 
after the (now canceled) Arab League meeting in Tunis, i.e., 
in May.  Note: This is likely a reference to the Supreme 
Yemeni-Saudi Coordination Council, which meets once a year 
under the chairmanship of Yemeni PM Ba Jammal and Prince 
Sultan, the Saudi Second Deputy Prime Minister.  The last 
meeting of the council was convened in Sana'a in 7 July, 
2003, and a number of cooperation agreements were signed. 
End note.  He agreed that whatever the shape of the border 
patrol/security plan, the ROYG was likely to request the SAG 
provide significant financial assistance. 
 
COMMENT:  THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS 
 
6. (c) Comment: While there seems to be an understanding that 
a joint committee will be formulating a border security plan, 
al-Mqhm's statements that no committee exists is in sharp 
contrast to public statements by Yemeni FM Abu-Bakr al-Qirbi 
(ref a), and a private statement by another MFA official (ref 
c) that President Saleh's February 2/17-18 visit to Riyadh 
produced an agreement and a committee had been formed to 
address the border.  Even allowing that although al-Mqhm is 
well known to other Emboffs this was his initial meeting with 
Pol/Econ Chief and he may have been reluctant to go into 
detail on sensitive subjects, it does not appear that the two 
sides are fully in sync on this issue or that the Saudis are 
completely on board with the blueprint for joint monitoring 
of the border outlined to Emboffs in recent meetings with 
Yemeni officials from two separate agencies.  End comment. 
HULL