US embassy cable - 05SANAA3364

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANAA 003364 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/23/2010 
TAGS: PGOV, PINR, PREL, SY, YE, DOMESTIC POLITICS 
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT SALEH, AFTER WASHINGTON VISIT: "I GET 
IT!" 
 
Classified By: Classified by DCM Nabeel Khoury for reasons 1.4 b and d. 
 
1. (C) Summary: President Saleh told Ambassador that he has 
taken to heart the messages he heard in Washington from 
President Bush, Secretary Rice, MCC/CEO Danelovich, World 
Bank Wolfowitz and others. He said that he had convoked his 
cabinet upon his return and demanded a plan of action to 
respond to Washington's concerns. The cabinet, according to 
Saleh, will remain seized of the issues until they deliver 
the desired plan. The actions recommended would then be 
formalized at the GPC convention next month. Saleh also said 
that he delivered a very strongly worded message to President 
Bashar al-Assad of Syria, based on what he heard from 
Presidents Bush and Chirac during his visits with the two 
leaders. "I promise you, " said Saleh on his talks in 
Washington, "I have heard the message and I will take 
action."  End Summary. 
 
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Advice for a Young President: 
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2. (C) Ambassador and DCM met with President Saleh, 11/23, 
for follow-up discussions to Saleh's Washington visit. Saleh, 
anxious to convey how he is living up to promises made, 
showed us a letter he had sent to President Bashar al-Assad 
of Syria with a personal envoy of Bashar's. Saleh's assistant 
read portions of the letter aloud but did not give us a copy. 
In essence, the letter advises al-Assad that Saleh discussed 
the Syria question with both Presidents Bush and Chirac and 
came back with the same strong message: 
A. Syria has to comply fully and quickly with the Mehlis 
commission. 
B. Syria must stop funding Hamas and Hizbullah in Lebanon. 
C. Any assistance to the Palestinian people must only be 
offered through the Palestinian Authority. 
C. Syria must coordinate with the U.S. measures to stop the 
infiltration of fighters into Iraq. 
Saleh said that he strongly counseled Assad to change his 
father's old guard, "much like Abdallah of Jordan and Mohamed 
VI of Morocco did upon assuming power." Saleh added that he 
told Assad that he didn't have anything to lose as neither 
France nor the U.S. had any plans to attack Syria and that 
compliance would only help him strengthen his rule by 
modernizing the country and ending its isolation within the 
international community. Saleh added, "I told him not to fool 
himself by assuming that Arab countries supported him. I 
assured him that Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan were all 
against him if he persisted in defying the international 
community." 
 
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"You will see some strong reform measures, soon." 
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3. (C) Turning to Yemen, Saleh said that he had come back 
from Washington with new resolution to confront all the 
problems that had negatively impacted his country's image 
overseas. To wit, Saleh listed plans for the creation of a 
new independent judicial council, a new tender monitoring 
committee, new laws to combat corruption and a new law that 
protects the rights of journalists. To that end, he had 
convoked the government and given them the word that they 
were to remain in constant session until they presented him 
with concrete plans and policies to fix the situation. 
(Comment: We heard that, in fact, the Yemeni government has 
been meeting every night all last week along with leaders of 
the ruling GPC to hammer out a new reform package that will 
be presented formally at the GPC convention in mid-December. 
End comment.) When the Ambassador reminded him that Yemen's 
MCC suspension resulted from the lack of action on previous 
promises, Saleh said, "I know, I know, believe me you're 
going to see some strong measures over the next two months." 
 
4. (C) Saleh asked the Ambassador to deliver a personal 
message to President Bush, saying that he was quite touched 
by the personal attention shown him by the President and that 
he feels a very personal commitment to live up to the 
promises he made. The Ambassador reassured Saleh that 
President Bush fully understood the difficult challenges 
facing Yemen and the difficult task ahead for President 
Saleh. "The President, therefore, appreciates your efforts 
all the more and wants to help you meet the challenge." 
 
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Comment: 
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5. (C) Between the messages he had received from us before 
his departure, the suspension of Yemen's MCC Threshold 
Program and the direct talk he heard in Washington, President 
Saleh seems to us fully cognizant of the high expectations 
placed on him and the serious choice he needs to make: "You 
can raise U.S.-Yemeni relations to a higher more strategic 
level and modernize your state institutions in the process, 
or you can neglect our advice and watch our aid dwindle and 
the relationship falter."  We believe that Saleh truly wants 
to make the right choice. Action, however, not words, will 
tell over the next few months - particularly as we watch for 
new decisions and announcements out of the GPC convention. 
End comment. 
Krajeski