US embassy cable - 03SANAA253

UNCLAS SANAA 000253 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA, NEA/ARP, NEA/PD, NEA/RA, DS/OP/NEA 
AND S/CT 
CENTCOM FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, KMDR, PTER, KISL, YM 
SUBJECT: INITIAL YEMENI MEDIA REACTION TO SECRETARY 
POWELL'S ADDRESS AT THE UN 
 
 
NEA/PPD FOR DMACINNES, JGAFFNEY, ACASPER 
 
 
1.(U) Summary: Very few Yemeni newspapers so far reported 
and commented on the Secretary's Wednesday address at the 
United Nations Security Council. Al-Thawra, the official 
daily, reported excerpts of Powell's speech without 
commentary but referred to it in its editorial. Saba News 
Agency printed the entire speech in its daily bulletin 
today. Al-Ayyam, the main independent paper, reported 
excerpts of the speech without any comment. Yemen TV and 
Yemen Radio reported some excerpts of the speech 
commenting that this is another attempt by the U.S. to 
get international support for the attack on Iraq. Yemen 
TV invited an Egyptian political analyst to give his 
opinion on Powell's speech. He said: "All the evidence 
presented by Powell is not new and there are things under 
suspicion. This information needs to be tested and 
verified." A senior MFA official commented privately to 
the Charge that the section of the speech detailing links 
between Iraq and al-Qaeda included "important new 
information" and was extremely interesting. (End Summary) 
 
2. (U) The following are headlines from Yemeni papers: 
 
Al-Thawra (official daily, Feb.06) carried a headline 
which says: "Powell accuses Iraq of hiding weapons and 
its links with al-Qaeda; Baghdad describes U.S. evidence 
as `cartoon movies'." A sub-headline says: "France and 
China support promoting inspection operations with 
observation, and Germany adheres to its opposition 
against the option of war." 
 
Another sub-headline reads: "A Russian scientist: Baghdad 
does not have scientific capability to produce new 
chemical weapons." 
 
Still another headline in the same paper declares: 
"British intelligence: there is no link between Iraq and 
al-Qaeda." 
 
3. (U)Under the title "Flood of War" al-Thawra's 
editorial commented on Powell's speech saying: "There is 
no disagreement among analysts that many of the scenarios 
of the war are ready. What was said in the meeting of the 
UN Security Council yesterday was nothing but an 
introduction to put these scenarios into effect...War, at 
any time, must not be an absolute option. Once a war 
breaks out, it will open the doors of hell not only for 
the states of the region but for the whole world." 
 
Al-Ayyam (Aden-based independent, Feb.06) carried a 
headline which reads: "Powell: About 24 al-Qaeda suspects 
are stationed in Baghdad." The sub-headline reads: 
"Powell accuses the Jordanian Abu Musa'ab al-Zarqawi." 
The paper reported excerpts of the speech with no other 
comment. 
MISENHEIMER