US embassy cable - 03SANAA1439

S E C R E T SANAA 001439 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR L/LEI, S/CT, DOJ FOR DAAG BRUCE SWARTZ, 
RIYADH FOR LEGATT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/22/2013 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, ASEC, PGOV, KJUS, YM, TERFIN 
SUBJECT: MOAYED:  YEMENI PRESIDENT REQUESTS DISCUSSION WITH 
FBI DIRECTOR 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 175378 
 
     B. BERLIN 2395 
     C. SANAA 1411 
     D. SANAA 1256 
     E. SANAA 581 
     F. SANAA 518 
     G. SANAA 482 
     H. BERLIN 406 
     I. SANAA 127 
     J. BERLIN 131 
     K. SECSTATE 7011 
 
Classified By: Charge D'Affaires Alan G. Misenheimer for Reason 1.5 (b, 
d) 
 
1.  (U)  This is an action request -- see paragraph 6. 
 
2.  (S/NF)  Summary:    The Charge received a call from 
Mohamed Sudam on behalf of President Saleh regarding Sheikh 
al-Moayed late on June 21.  He relayed a response from Saleh 
to the ref a points delivered by Charge earlier in the day by 
phone to Sudam.  President Saleh asked Charge to facilitate a 
phone conversation with FBI Director Mueller within two hours 
6/21 (by 1600 Washington time).  Saleh repeated his appeal 
(ref c) that Moayed be turned over to Yemen to allow for a 
joint Yemeni-U.S. investigation.  See paragraph 5 for text of 
message.  After discussing the request with NEA/ARP and 
failing to reach Sanaa's Legatt in Washington to check the 
feasibility and desirability of a phone conversation, Post 
responded to President Saleh by saying that a phone call was 
not feasible in that timeframe and that the points passed to 
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (details septel) represented 
the U.S. position.  President Saleh requested that a phone 
call still be arranged as soon as possible.  End Summary. 
 
3.  (S/NF)  Muhamed Sudam, personal advisor and translator to 
President Saleh, phoned Charge from Germany at approximately 
2100 Sanaa time to respond to ref a points delivered by 
Charge by phone at approximately 1600 Sanaa time.  In a 
message translated directly from President Saleh (whose voice 
was audible in the background), Sudam dictated the appeal in 
paragraph 5.  Sudam relayed a request from President Saleh to 
facilitate a phone conversation with FBI Director Mueller. 
 
4.  (S/NF)  Charge said he would look into the possibility of 
arranging a phone call but reiterated the points in ref a. 
Charge added that the issue in Germany was legal and not 
political, saying the United States had no standing in the 
German judicial system and cannot make them do what Saleh 
wants.  President Saleh asserted that the political and legal 
distinction is not so clear cut -- "serious cooperation is 
needed to overcome problem." 
 
5.  (S/NF)  Text of President Saleh's 6/21 personal message 
to the U.S. Administration: 
 
President Saleh appeals again for the U.S. to agree to a 
joint Yemeni-U.S. investigation of Sheikh al-Moayed.  He 
should be returned to Yemen for that purpose.  President 
Saleh believes that al-Moayed is not a terrorist or a "bad 
man," perhaps simply stupid. 
 
President Saleh has talked to the Germans and he says they 
are "embarrassed" by the case.  Based on his conversations, 
he thinks all the Germans would need is a "green light" from 
the United States to release al-Moayed to Yemen. 
 
The Yemen-U.S. relationship is bigger than al-Moayed.  We 
need to work together in a positive way to overcome this 
problem.  In Yemen, we can investigate together the details 
of al-Moayed's actions. 
 
Please facilitate a phone conversation with FBI Director 
Mueller so that President Saleh can discuss this matter. 
 
(End Text.) 
 
6.  (U)  Please advise on Saleh's request for a telcon with 
FBI Director Mueller to discuss the Moayed case. 
MISENHEIMER