US embassy cable - 04MANAMA1889

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 001889 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR HADLEY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PTER, MARR, ASEC, YM, SA, BA 
SUBJECT: DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR HADLEY'S DECEMBER 
5 MEETING WITH YEMENI INTERIOR MINISTER RASHED MOHAMMED AL 
ALIMI 
 
Classified by A/DCM Hallie H. Hahn for reasons 1.4 (b) and 
(d). 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C) Deputy National Security Advisor Hadley met with 
Yemeni Interior Minister Rashed Mohammed Al Alimi December 5 
on the margins of the IISS Gulf Security Dialogue conference 
in Manama.  Al Alimi thanked the U.S. for its counter 
terrorism assistance and expressed his desire to increase 
cooperation in this area.  Yemen faces a great challenge from 
the flow of refugees to Yemen from the Horn of Africa.  The 
ROYG had requested assistance from the U.S. naval command in 
Djibouti, and would like to expand its program of monitoring 
the coastline with its coast guard and through the use of hot 
air balloons.  DNSA Hadley indicated that Yemen should focus 
further on finding ways to stem the flow of weapons into the 
country, which is a source of instability in the region.  Al 
Alimi said that Yemen had requested help from Saudi Arabia 
but had not received a positive answer.  The link between the 
Saudi government and the religious establishment was a 
problem that would take a long-term strategy to solve.  End 
Summary. 
 
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Expanding Counter Terrorism Efforts 
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2.  (C) Yemeni Interior Minister Rashed Mohammed Al Alimi 
opened the December 5 meeting with Deputy National Security 
Advisor Hadley by expressing his desire to increase 
cooperation with the United States on combating terrorism and 
in other fields.  He was pleased to participate in the IISS 
conference on Gulf security because by doing so Yemeni 
security was linked with the security of the Gulf.  He 
thanked DNSA Hadley for U.S. assistance to the Interior 
Ministry and the Yemeni Coast Guard.  The results have been 
very good, but he would like to do more.  DNSA Hadley 
responded that Yemen is a good model on counter terrorism, 
reform, and encouraging freedom and democracy.  Yemen does 
not get enough recognition for its efforts and the U.S. looks 
forward to deepening our bilateral cooperation. 
 
3.  (C) Al Alimi said that Yemen faces significant challenges 
from the Horn of Africa and Somalia, the source of many 
refugees.  Chief of Staff General Mohammed Ali Al Qassimi 
said that the Yemeni military had requested assistance from 
the U.S. naval command in Djibouti to stop the flow of 
refugees into Yemen.  Yemen has a long coastline and large 
numbers of refugees stream into the country from Africa.  The 
Yemeni government must obligate funds to the Coast Guard at 
the expense of other programs.  He noted that the use of hot 
air balloons is a good way to patrol the coastline at a 
reasonable cost and requested U.S. assistance to expand this 
program. 
 
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Weapons Source of Regional Instability 
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4.  (C) DNSA Hadley took note of the Yemeni request and 
stated his gratitude that the ROYG took into account U.S. 
concerns related to the Ramadan prisoner release.  The two 
countries are cooperating on MANPADS and the weapons buy-back 
program.  He stated that Yemen should focus further on the 
flow of arms into Yemen.  Though the U.S. would not be able 
to expand its buy-back program, it considers the presence of 
these weapons to be a source of instability in the region, 
including in Saudi Arabia. 
 
5.  (C) Al Alimi replied that the existence of weapons is of 
great concern to the ROYG and the security apparatus.  He 
noted that he had spoken with State Department Assistant 
Secretary Bloomfield about a long-term program to control 
 
SIPDIS 
these arms.  He reported that Yemen tells Saudi Arabia that 
many of these weapons are in the country as a result of the 
Yemeni civil war.  He said that he and Chief of Staff Al 
Qassimi visited Saudi Arabia and asked for assistance from 
their counterparts, but did not receive a positive response. 
The Yemenis suggested that Saudi Arabia, rather than 
allocating funds for border controls, assist the Yemenis in 
expanding the buy-back program. 
 
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Severing Link Between SAG and Ulama 
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6.  (C) Al Alimi stated that Saudi Arabia had not been 
serious about combating terrorism until the Riyadh attacks in 
May 2003.  Prior to this, Yemen would pass the SAG names of 
terrorists and information about terror financing networks, 
and the Saudis would respond that these were "only 
preachers."  Under Saudi Assistant Interior Minister Shaikh 
Mohammed bin Nayef, Yemeni-Saudi counter terrorism 
cooperation had expanded greatly.  The terrorism issue in 
Saudi Arabia is mostly political, said Al Alimi.  There is a 
strong link between the government and the religious 
establishment, and the SAG must implement a long-term 
strategy to sever this link. 
 
7.  (C) The NSC cleared this message. 
 
MONROE