US embassy cable - 05SANAA462

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANAA 000462 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS TO MCC, G/NICOLE BIBBINS SEDACA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/04/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PTER, PHUM, EAID, ECON, KMPI, KDEM, PINR, YM, COUNTER TERRORISM, DEMOCRATIC REFORM, ECON/COM 
SUBJECT: U/S DOBRIANSKY'S MEETING WITH FOREIGN MINISTER 
QIRBI 
 
Classified By: DCM Nabeel Khoury for reasons 1.4 b and d. 
 
1. (C) Summary.  On February 24 Under Secretary for Global 
Affairs Paula Dobriansky thanked Foreign Minister Abu Bakr 
al-Qirbi for Yemen's partnership in the Global War on 
Terrorism and encouraged the ROYG to expand intelligence 
sharing cooperation with the USG.  In response to the FM's 
complaints over Democracy Assistance Dialogue foot-dragging 
by the Italians, U/S suggested that the ROYG plan to work 
with the Democracy Transition Center in Hungary to share 
their experiences.  U/S encouraged the ROYG to use their MCC 
threshold status to accomplish reform in the area of 
corruption.  Raising press freedom, Qirbi acknowledged U.S. 
concerns and said it was a "challenge" that the ROYG is 
addressing.  Qirbi closed the meeting expressing hope for the 
direction reform is taking in Yemen.  End Summary. 
 
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Intelligence Sharing 
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2. (C) U/S thanked Foreign Minister Qirbi for Yemen's role as 
a partner in the fight against international terrorism, 
congratulated him for Yemen,s success in combating terrorism 
within Yemen, and assured him of the high value the U.S. 
places on its cooperative CT relationship with Yemen. 
Pressing for increased USG access to information collected by 
the Yemeni security services, U/S said "information sharing 
is an area of this cooperation we would like to see expand." 
 
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Democratic Reforms - BMENA Dialogue for Democracy 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
3. (C) U/S commended Yemen,s bold stance on democracy, and 
credited Yemen's participation in the BMENA process with 
re-focusing other regional actors on democratic reform.  U/S 
highlighted ROYG membership in the BMENA Dialogue for 
Democracy (DAD) as an opportunity to enhance Yemen's 
leadership role.  Qirbi agreed, saying "we were once very 
enthusiastic about it, perhaps too enthusiastic."  Qirbi 
shared ROYG frustrations with its (Turkish and Italian) DAD 
partners, "it has been eight months and we are stuck over 
financial matters -- the Italians do not want to pay." 
--------------------------------- 
Beyond BMENA...How About Hungary? 
--------------------------------- 
 
4. (C) Without directly raising ROYG's desire to establish a 
permanent DAD center in Sanaa, Qirbi asked U/S to weigh in 
with the Italians.  "At the last meeting in Rome," complained 
Qirbi, "I told the Italians that if we are not going to do 
something, then let's not waste our money on travel!"  U/S 
responded that the U.S. continues to engage the Italians on 
how best to utilize the DAD, but added that Yemen should not 
overlook other international opportunities.  Mentioning 
Hungary's proposed Global Center for Democracies in 
Transition, U/S suggested it was an excellent forum for Yemen 
to share its considerable experience in running elections 
with other new democracies.  "We are ready to engage with 
anyone," Qirbi responded, "after all, the value of democracy 
is not in talking but in participation." 
 
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Fighting Corruption Through MCC 
------------------------------- 
 
5. (C) U/S told Qirbi she was delighted that Yemen qualified 
for Millennium Challenge Account threshold status.  This is a 
tremendous opportunity for Yemen to use additional resources 
to move forward with reform projects that "you determine are 
critical" to your own reform efforts.  Emphasizing that Yemen 
is now at a crucial juncture, U/S said the U.S. has real 
concerns about the challenge of corruption in Yemen.  Donor 
assistance would have a much greater impact, said U/S, if 
Yemen addressed its serious corruption problems. 
 
6. (C) Qirbi said the ROYG has established an interagency 
committee to identify where it is not performing well on MCC 
indicators.  "The MFA's position," said the FM, "is that MCC 
is an opportunity to move beyond rhetoric to truly address 
critical issues."  He shared his view that reform efforts 
must have benchmarks and that line ministries must be held 
accountable for implementation.  When President Saleh is 
informed about acts of corruption, confided Qirbi, the 
Government has taken steps to punish these acts in some 
ministries.  However, he continued, the process of combating 
corruption must be institutionalized.  U/S agreed, stressing 
that MCC requires concrete, tangible progress on this serious 
issue. 
 
--------------------------- 
Qirbi Raises Press Freedoms 
--------------------------- 
 
7. (C) In a likely effort to preempt USG talking points on 
deteriorating press freedoms in Yemen, the Foreign Minister 
raised the issue himself.  "We are facing a challenge with 
freedom of the press," said the FM, "but you must understand 
our recent history."  Qirbi suggested that perhaps the press 
law needed amending, but explained that following 1990 
unification, hundreds of unregulated media outlets sprung up 
in Yemen that focused on north-south divisions instead of 
national objectives.  Accusing the Yemen Socialist Party 
(YSP) press of inciting the 1994 civil war, Qirbi said that 
ensuring a "secular, united democratic state," trumps press 
freedoms.  U/S responded that the U.S. understands the 
delicate role of press freedoms in a democracy with national 
security problems, but "different points of view do not 
threaten a democracy." 
8. (C) "Press freedoms build the base of a strong democracy," 
U/S told Qirbi.  She urged the ROYG to settle the Khaiwani 
case, as it is drawing international attention away from the 
positive steps Yemen is taking.  Moving quickly to amend the 
press law, suggested U/S, would be an important step forward. 
 Qirbi reiterated President Saleh's July 2004 pledge to amend 
the press law and outlaw prison sentences for journalists, 
but added that Presidential statements "cannot make it happen 
over night."  Qirbi shared his view that improving press 
freedoms in Yemen requires a "huge package" including 
education efforts to change ROYG views, particularly among 
the security services, and judicial reforms such as training 
for court officers.  Pointing to the inclusion of media 
reform in the ROYG's threshold proposal, U/S suggested 
employing MCC assistance to develop and implement such a 
strategy. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
Palestine, Iraq, and the U.S. Role in Regional Reform 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
9. (C) Moving to the regional context, Qirbi said he was 
pleased to see President Bush and Secretary Rice engaged and 
moving forward in the peace process.  As for Iraq, said the 
FM, "we want to see a transition to complete Iraqi 
sovereignty as soon as possible. We would like to see the 
U.S. role in the region move away from militarism to the 
development arena," continued Qirbi, "the road to peace and 
stability in the Middle East is through reforms -- democracy 
leads to security." 
 
10. (C) "Arab leaders are afraid of reforms that diminish 
their hold on power and their control of resources," Qirbi 
told U/S that the U.S. should encourage Arab government to 
engage in reforms  "in their own ways, at their own pace," 
lest they feel democracy is being imposed.  "In the long 
term," responded U/S, "Arab leaders need to realize that it 
is to their benefit to establish a partnership with their 
people."  Qirbi nodded in agreement, saying that President 
Saleh has been adept and courageous in forging ahead with 
reforms in Yemen despite teething pains.  "We are not yet the 
democracy we hope to be," he said, "but we are moving in the 
right direction." 
Khoury