US embassy cable - 05SANAA460

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANAA 000460 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS TO MCC, G/NICOLE BIBBINS SEDACA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/04/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, KMPI, PTER, PINR, EAID, ECON, YM, COUNTER TERRORISM, DEMOCRATIC REFORM, ECON/COM 
SUBJECT: U/S DOBRIANSKY'S MEETING WITH PRESIDENT SALEH 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Thomas C. Krajeski for reasons 1.4 b and d. 
 
1. (C) Summary.  Visiting Under Secretary for Global Affairs 
Paula Dobriansky thanked Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh 
on February 24 for Yemen's partnership in the GWOT.  Praising 
Yemen's strong CT cooperation, U/S called on the ROYG to be 
more forthcoming on intelligence sharing.  Discussions 
centered on pressing democratic and economic reforms. 
Commending the ROYG's democratization efforts, U/S urged the 
Yemeni President to take concrete action to move forward on 
political and economic reforms, and to avoid any further 
regression in press freedoms.  U/S pressed for specific steps 
to combat Yemen's pervasive corruption.  End Summary. 
 
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CT Cooperation: "It Will Never Stop" 
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2. (C) President Saleh briefed U/S on recent ROYG CT 
operations, pointing to a round up of "20 terrorists" 
planning to attack "UNDP headquarters, foreign embassies, and 
aircraft" in Sanaa.  (Note: Saleh often lumps together 
separate incidents and may be referring to two or more 
different cells that were captured by ROYG security forces. 
End Note.)  U/S thanked President Saleh for his partnership 
in the GWOT, and for his continued CT cooperation with the 
U.S.  "Let's go further," she suggested, "we would like to 
see an expansion in ROYG information sharing."  Saleh 
responded that Yemen was very satisfied with existing 
U.S.-Yemeni CT cooperation, and praised USG programs to train 
the Central Security Forces Counter Terrorism Unit and Yemen 
Coast Guard.  The President claimed he "always cooperates" 
with USG requests for access to CT-related information and 
"personally orders the security agencies to cooperate 
whenever the Embassy brings him a request."  You have better 
cooperation with us than any other country in the region," 
Saleh continued, "and this cooperation will never stop." 
 
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Democratic Reforms: "Democracy is a Virus" 
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3. (C) Saleh said he wanted a new democracy center in Sanaa 
to serve as a resource for the region.  "We have influenced 
our neighbors," Saleh told U/S, "they used to criticize our 
democratic reforms...now they have Shura councils and we just 
saw limited elections in Saudi Arabia."  Democracy is like a 
virus, continued Saleh, "it spreads from one country to 
another."  U/S agreed that Yemen had much to contribute, 
noting that "Yemen has valuable experience in areas of 
democratization, particularly in conducting good elections." 
U/S told Saleh Yemen should have not just a regional but an 
international role in promoting democracy.  She suggested 
that the ROYG link up with Hungary's proposed Global Center 
for Democratic Transition, a center to link governments and 
individuals with democracy transition experience with new and 
emerging democracies needing guidance in their transition. 
 
4. (C) Turning to governance issues, U/S praised Saleh's bold 
moves toward democratization.  Under your leadership the pace 
of democratic reform in Yemen has been ahead of others in the 
region, she told Saleh, you put Yemen on the map.  U/S 
stressed, however, that the time has come for the ROYG to 
move forward to implement concrete actions domestically and 
take a leadership role regionally. 
 
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Saleh on Corruption: "It's Simple" 
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5. (C) U/S stressed the urgency of dealing with corruption in 
lights of serious development challenges, saying, "We hope 
you will use your leadership to take significant steps to 
combat this serious problem."  Reversing the U/S's formula, 
Saleh stressed the need to fight poverty in order to 
eradicate corruption.  Saleh claimed that corruption in Yemen 
was due to unemployment, and asked for U.S. assistance in 
securing soft loans of 6-7 billion USD in order to create 
jobs.  "People on the streets cannot get work, new graduates 
cannot find jobs," said the President, claiming "it's simple 
-- corruption would disappear in two years if you solve 
unemployment." 
 
6. (C) Saleh raised what he considers inadequate if not 
non-existent development assistance from Gulf countries.  "We 
always invite them to invest in Yemen," complained the 
President."  Saleh asked U/S, as he often does with senior 
U.S. officials, to  increase U.S. pressure on Saudi Arabia 
and other Gulf countries to step up to the plate.  "Our 
security is their security," said Saleh, "our oil rich 
neighbors have a duty to help fight poverty in Yemen."  "You 
are the only country that can influence them," Saleh told 
U/S, "please talk to them, they listen to no one else."  U/S 
promised to take Saleh's message back to Washington. 
 
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Upping U.S. Development Assistance: "What about Mexico?" 
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8. (C) Returning to U.S. assistance, Saleh complained that 
U.S. aid was not sufficient and "lectures" from U.S. 
officials did not help solve Yemen's development problems. 
"You Americans have a double standard in development as in 
politics -- why don't you treat us like Mexico?"  U/S 
responded that she traveled a long way, stopping only in 
Yemen "to show that Yemen was special and to talk about how 
you can move forward on reform -- I did not come here to 
discuss other countries."  U/S recommended that the ROYG not 
waste the opportunity offered by MCC threshold assistance, 
but focus quickly on creating programs based on Yemen's 
assessment of its own development needs and tackling its 
shortcomings.  "I was trying to provoke you, quipped Saleh, 
"but we are in agreement and ready to move forward on 
reform." 
 
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MCC: The Threshold Years 
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9. (C) "President Bush has made clear that development in the 
region is high on the agenda," U/S told Saleh, "but we 
consider development aid as part of a partnership."  U/S said 
the door is open for Yemen to receive additional assistance, 
provided the ROYG demonstrates a willingness to tackle 
corruption.  To qualify for MCC, U/S told Saleh, we much see 
tangible results, "Do not waste this opportunity," she said, 
"go further and we will support you." 
Khoury