US embassy cable - 05JEDDAH1761

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 001761 
 
SIPDIS 
 
OCS/ACS/NESA FOR LEIGH RIEDER 
OCS/CI FOR JOAN CRISTINI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CASC, Welfare and Whereabouts 
SUBJECT: W/W VISIT - AMINA CORDEIRO 
 
REF: 04 JEDDAH 00431 
 
1.  (U)   On June 6, 2005, Conoff and Senior ACS LES 
visited with thirteen year old Amina Cordeiro at the 
request of the left behind parent, Melissa Luna, who 
currently lives in Dubai. The visit took place at the 
house of Abdullah Al Johani, the prominent Jeddah lawyer 
who represents the Bin Laden family.  Also in attendance 
were Derrick Cordeiro, Amina's father who currently 
resides in Saudi Arabia; Pat Cordeiro, Derrick's new wife; 
Isabel Bin Laden, Amina's grandmother (Derrick is her son); 
and Kathleen Al Johani, Abdullah's wife. 
 
2.  (U)  Amina is a bright young girl with a distinct touch 
of mischief in her eyes.  When she is not answering 
questions, her mind is secretly at work, her eyes scanning 
the audience and taking mental notes.  At first, she was a 
bit reluctant in the presence of her family and friends to 
answer questions from a stranger.  Yet when individual 
conversations started between members of the group, Amina 
began to speak more freely. 
 
3.  (U)  Amina is just finishing the local equivalent of 
eighth grade.  She is studying at the Continental School, 
which follows a British curriculum.  It is exam time in 
Saudi Arabia, which is a stressful time for many students. 
Amina seemed calm and collected about the whole process, 
and seemed to be cruising towards the end of the school 
year.  English is her favorite subject, and she predicted 
a high score in that exam, even though she had difficulty 
with some reading comprehension questions.  When asked why 
she does not have a British accent, the collective wisdom 
of the group was that while her academic influences are 
British, at home she hears exclusively American accents. 
Amina is not a fan of geography.  She complained that the 
test questions were very difficult, and that she had a hard 
time remembering which country was which. 
 
4.  (U)  Like any typical eighth grader, Amina spends long 
hours on the phone with her friends.  Her father provided 
her with her own cell phone as a Ramadan/birthday present, 
and now her stepmother claims that Amina is looking for it 
to be "surgically implanted".  When asked what she talks 
about on the phone, the rest of the group began murmuring 
about an Egyptian boy at school, at which point Amina 
started to look at the floor.  The subject was quickly 
changed. 
 
5.  (U)  Amina has a cadre of four close friends that she 
hangs out with at school.  Sleepovers are common on the 
weekends.  Amina's father, rolling his eyes at the 
possibility of yet another pre-teen function at his house, 
says that he is very selective about whose house Amina is 
allowed to go to.  He prefers that Amina host her friends 
rather than the other way around. 
 
6.  (U)  When she is not on the phone or with her friends, 
Amina dabbles in sports.  She took tennis lessons for a few 
months, and seems interested in resuming them.  Ice skating 
is also a favorite pastime, although she is rather picky 
about which ice rink she goes to - the most popular rink in 
Jeddah is not her favorite, because the quality of the 
skates is not up to snuff.  Horse riding lessons are 
scheduled for sometime in the future, but Amina is a bit 
anxious about them because she claims to be afraid of 
heights. 
 
7.  (U)  That theory does not hold water, however, as Amina 
is a huge fan of roller coasters.  She is a regular at Al 
Shallal amusement park, a popular place for the teen set 
in Jeddah.  The secret, she says, is to sit in the middle 
of the car and look at the head of the person in front of 
you.  That apparently prevents her from looking down in the 
middle of an upside down section of the ride (her favorite 
part).  While she is no stranger to adrenaline-pumping 
roller coasters, it was ironically a rogue piece of 
pavement that caused Amina to fall and chip her front teeth 
recently.  Luckily, the roots were not damaged and the 
dentist did a fantastic job of reconstructing her wonderful 
smile. 
 
8.  (U)  Amina claims to be an adventurous eater, but like 
many kids her age she naturally gravitates towards fast 
food.  Pizza is her favorite dinner, yet she enjoys the 
occasional hamburger just for variety.  Amina avoids 
spinach as a rule. Still, she diplomatically noted that "if 
it's cooked the right way" it can in fact be edible. 
 
9.  (U)  Avril Lavigne is her current singer of choice, 
although she also likes an American singer called Mario. 
When asked about Arabic music, Amina scrunched her nose. 
She listens almost exclusively to American pop music. 
During long hours in front of the television (much to the 
dismay of her family), she still likes to watch cartoons. 
The Powerpuff Girls is her favorite show, and her father 
confessed to watching it with her more than once. 
 
10.  (SBU)  Near the end of the visit, Amina and her 
stepmother stepped outside so Derrick and his mother could 
reiterate their concerns with Conoff.  They maintain that 
their offer to fly Amina's mother to Saudi Arabia and take 
care of all her needs while visiting her daughter is still 
open, in spite of their lack of confidence in her.  They 
also voiced concerns that Ms. Luna is not as proactive as 
she used to be in contacting Amina.  She used to send 
boxes, letters, and emails that were very well received, 
but now that correspondence is infrequent. 
 
11.  (SBU)  The family also addressed the Interpol hit 
placed on Derrick Cordeiro and his arrest in Lebanon. 
Since the arrest, Amina has voiced fears that either she or 
her father will be kidnapped.  Amina's father said that the 
incident had a profound effect on his child, and caused 
this normally extroverted girl to become much more subdued. 
The family is also concerned that the Bin Laden name could 
be used as an excuse for further legal troubles outside of 
Saudi Arabia.  For that reason, and because Ms. Luna 
plainly stated that it is her intent to take Amina to the 
United States, they are no longer open to meetings with Ms. 
Luna outside of Saudi Arabia. 
ABERCROMBIE-WINSTANLEY