US embassy cable - 05SANAA1569

UNCLAS SANAA 001569 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS TO G/NICOLE BIBBINS SEDACA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KDEM, KMPI, DEMOCRATIC REFORM 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR AND IRYANI DISCUSS NEXT STEPS ON MIDDLE 
EAST DEMOCRACY CHARTER 
 
REF: A. STATE 94380 
     B. SANAA 94352 
 
1. On June 6 Ambassador and Dr. Abd al-Karim al-Iryani 
discussed Yemen's Democracy Charter proposal unveiled at the 
May Community of Democracies meeting in Santiago, Chile. 
Presidential Advisor and former Foreign Minister Iryani 
attended the conference as a representative of Yemen's NGO 
community, along with Deputy Foreign Minister Mustafa Noman 
for the MFA. 
 
2. Iryani told Ambassador that his regional counterparts 
responded positively to Yemen's proposal for a Middle East 
democracy charter.  Iryani said that Arab League Secretary 
General Amr Musa was particularly interested in the charter. 
Iryani, however, stated that in his opinion the AL was not 
the best forum in which to advance the Yemeni proposal. 
Instead, Iryani advocates taking the issue to the regional 
NGO community in order to attain a broad consensus on a draft 
text from civil society.  These groups could then shop the 
charter to their own governments and public to gage national 
views and illicit support. 
 
3. Iryani suggests introducing a draft democracy charter for 
the Middle East at the January 2006 'Sanaa Two' Democracy and 
Human Rights Conference.  (Note: The first conference, 
entitled "Sanaa Inter-Governmental Regional Conference on 
Democracy, Human Rights, and the Role of the International 
Criminal Court" was held January 2004. End Note). 
Krajeski