US embassy cable - 05SANAA3441

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 003441 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/11/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, YM, COUNTER TERRORISM, TERFIN 
SUBJECT: DCM REGISTERS CONCERN ABOUT ZINDANI TRAVEL AND 
HAMAS PRESENCE IN YEMEN 
 
Classified By: DCM NABEEL KHOURY, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
1. (C)  In a December 11 meeting, DCM told Deputy FonMin Mohy 
al-Din al-Dhabi that the USG is very concerned that Abdul 
Majid al-Zindani had traveled outside of Yemen, in an 
apparent contravention of sanctions placed on him by the UN 
Security Council's 1267 Committee.  DCM said that Embassy and 
Washington officials had noted Zindani's presence, which was 
carried on local and international television, in the ROYG 
delegation at an OIC gathering in Mecca on December 6.  DCM 
further pointed out that al-Dhabi had assured him on a 
previous occasion that Zindani's "passport had expired and 
would not be renewed."  Al-Dhabi said he had no official 
response at the time, but would pass the Embassy's concerns 
to the Office of the President. 
 
2. (C)  In a follow-up meeting on December 12, al-Dhabi said 
the ROYG had allowed Zindani to submit his visa application 
to the Saudi embassy, expecting the Saudis to reject it. 
ROYG officials were "surprised and embarrassed" when the 
Saudis issued the visa, but Zindani is "politically powerful 
in Yemen," al-Dhabi argued, "and we cannot confront him 
without something in our pocket."  Al-Dhabi reiterated the 
ROYG's past requests for solid information on Zindani's links 
to terrorists, assuring DCM that President Saleh would 
"prosecute Zindani in Yemeni courts" if provided with 
credible information. 
 
3. (C)  DCM also took the opportunity during the December 11 
meeting to register the USG's regret that Hamas leader Khaled 
Mish'al had visited Sanaa and had been received with great 
fanfare, including a meeting with the President and 
front-page, above-the-fold coverage in local newspapers.  DCM 
said regional governments, including the ROYG, should be 
providing both concrete and moral support to the elected 
Palestinian Authority, not to groups that continue to 
violently oppose it.  Al-Dhabi argued that Mish'al had been 
invited as part of a conference on the status of Jerusalem 
and "not as a political move," but admitted that the 
government's media outlets "needed better guidance in 
harmonizing the news with the Government's political aims." 
He promised to pass the Embassy's concerns about the visit to 
the Office of the President. 
 
4. (C)  In his December 12 follow-up meeting, al-Dhabi 
claimed that the ROYG had invited PA officials to attend the 
Jerusalem conference, but complained that "when we invite 
them, they never come."  DCM said Hamas was not a diplomatic 
entity, so it did not make sense to put them at the same 
level as the PA, and it was understandable that PA officials 
would not want to attend gatherings at which Hamas was given 
such high visibility.  DCM added that encouraging Hamas with 
high-level events such as this one was not helpful at a time 
when that organization is still violently opposed to the 
peace process. 
Krajeski