US embassy cable - 03SANAA611

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 000611 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/29/2013 
TAGS: KPAO, KWWW, PREL, OPRC, OIIP, IZ 
SUBJECT: STATE-OWNED MEDIA'S PORTRAYAL OF THE WAR 
 
REF: A. A. SECSTATE 81604 
 
     B. B. SANAA 607 
     C. C. SANAA 606 
     D. D. SANAA 593-MEDIA 
 
Classified By: DCM Alan Misenheimer for reasons E.O. 12958, 1.5 (b), (c 
) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary: Although the tone of the Yemeni State owned 
and operated media was subdued in the first few days of the 
war, it has become more strident with developments in the 
theater of war as well as in the wake of increasing protests 
in yemen and the Arab world. Nevertheless, state-controlled 
media have not emphasized visuals of civilian casualties. 
Ambassador has urged Foreign Minister to promote balance in 
coverage. End Summary. 
 
2. (C) Coverage in the Yemeni State owned and controlled 
media, consisting of several dailies and weeklies and the 
only television station in the country (Yemen-TV) was very 
controlled and cautious in the first few days of the 
beginning of the Iraq campaign.  However, following the 
bloody demonstrations near the American Embassy on Friday 21, 
2003, and Iraqi VP Ramadan's thinly-veiled criticism of 
Yemen's position, there has been a noticeable shift in the 
volume and tone of coverage (see ref. D).  Friday's violent 
demonstration was reported factually only late that night on 
Yemen TV and the official Al-Thawra daily did not even 
display photographs on its first page the next day. On the 
other hand, both media as well as other state newspapers 
carried long and prominent reports on a subsequent peaceful 
demonstration on Thursday, March 27th, at Sanaa's central 
square.  Yemen TV had a 20-minute coverage of the event, 
compared to its cursory coverage of the violent demonstration 
a week prior. 
 
3. (C) All government dailies and weeklies, in coverage 
articles, editorials and op-ed pieces, have been using such 
strident terms as "Aggression against Iraq", "Unjustified 
aggression", "Agression against Iraq is agression against 
humanity", "A war without bases in international law", "We 
deplore the fall of innocent victims", "The new Vietnam War" 
and the like. Coverage of the war and various opinion 
articles cover almost half the number of pages of some of the 
dailies.  However, it is important to note that both State 
television and the printed media are not using the 
sensational pictures of civilian casualties nor the 
photographs of slain coalition soldiers.  TV text is often 
more strident than the pictures that run with it.  Very 
often, we get footage of coalition forces in action with a 
text that is totally irrelevant to what is being shown. 
Yemen radio, which is also State owned and controlled, has 
been following the lead of television and the official 
papers. 
 
4. (C) In a meeting with Foreign Minister Qirbi Saturday, 
March 29, the Ambassador raised the issue of media coverage. 
Ambassador told the FonMin the U.S. has no interest in 
targeting civilians since our strategy is to distance 
Saddam's regime from the Iraqi population.  In fact, said the 
Ambassador, coalition forces have been taking great pains to 
avoid civilian casualties.   By contrast, the Ambassador 
noted, the Iraqis seem to be firing on civilians who are 
trying to flee conflict areas.  The Ambassador also noted 
that coalition forces are now making a huge effort to provide 
humanitarian relief to the population of Iraqi regions now 
under their control. He asked Dr. Qirbi to promote a balanced 
approach by ROYG, both in statements and in official coverage 
of events in the conflict. 
 
5. (C) For his part, Foreign Minister Qirbi said that he 
feels that U.S. SecDef Rumsfeld's finger pointing at Syria 
and Iran were counterproductive.  He said such issues should 
be addressed in diplomatic channels, not publicly.  Moreover, 
said Qirbi, these public remarks give ammunition to those who 
predict a U.S. invasion of Syria and/or Iran, after Iraq is 
done. 
 
6. (C) Comment: The increase in the stridency of tone and 
content in the Yemeni official media could be a direct 
consequence of the rising anger in the Yemeni populace that 
was expressed in the bloody confrontation of the March 21 
demonstration and that is continuing to be expressed 
peacefully in subsequent demonstrations.  Demonstrations in 
other Arab capitals and cities also seem to be fueling this 
stridency as Yemenis attempt "to keep up with the Joneses." 
Of more significance however, are the graphic reports from 
Al-Jazeera and other broadcasts. 
HULL