US embassy cable - 03SANAA1879

S E C R E T SANAA 001879 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/30/2013 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, ASEC, MARR, PARM, PGOV, YM, COUNTER TERRORISM, ECON/COM, ENERGY, TERFIN 
SUBJECT: SALEH DEMARCHE ON AL-MOAYED AND CT SUPPORT 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Edmund J. Hull, Reasons 1.5 (b and d) 
 
 
1. (S) SUMMARY:  President Saleh July 30 pressed Ambassador 
and Legatt-designate for an arrangement on al-Moayed to avoid 
political embarrassment to Yemen.  Legatt briefed Saleh on 
FBI proposal for Yemeni investigators to come to New York and 
cooperate on al-Moayed case.  Saleh also pressed for 
additional CT resources.  Ambassador briefed Saleh on pending 
contract for Marib power plant that would adversely affect 
American investment in Yemen.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (S) At President Saleh's request, Ambassador, ORCA Chief 
and Legatt-designate met with him July 30.  Ambassador 
presented Saleh initially with chart that depicted history of 
American company Delma's effort to win contract for Marib 
power plant.  Chart outlined steps since 1998 that Delma had 
taken in accordance with Yemeni contracting procedure only to 
be informed recently that a Yemeni company (NATCO) was to be 
awarded the contract on the basis of its bid which appeared 
to be based on and marginally improved Delma's offer. 
Ambassador emphasized that virtually no American business 
would be interested in investment in Yemen if Delma's 
multi-million dollar effort was frustrated due to 
irregularities in the Yemen bid process.  Saleh took the 
point and phoned the Minister of Electricity to direct that 
all documents be forwarded to the President's office for 
review. 
 
3. (S) Saleh then raised next tranche of ORCA support for 
Yemen's counter terrorism effort.  ORCA chief briefed Saleh 
on recent discussions with PSO Chief Gamish and reiterated 
documentation required.  It was agreed that Yemeni government 
would provide bank statements as needed. 
 
4. (S) Saleh then turned to al-Moayed case and reviewed his 
telcon with FBI Director Mueller and "understanding" that US 
and Yemen would cooperate in resolving the issue.  Saleh 
argued that al-Moayed was an unimportant personality, unlike 
other al-Qa'ida figures like Nashiri, and that political cost 
to ROYG and US of his extradition outweighed potential CT 
gain.  In response, Legatt-designate briefed Saleh on letter 
now being translated from him to Interior Minister Alimi 
which would provide basis of US case and an invitation to 
three Yemeni officials to come to New York to work with the 
prosecutors and FBI case agents, on al-Moayed's case. 
Legatt-designate stressed importance of al-Moayed and 
corroborating evidence from several sources of his 
association with Al-Qa'ida.  Ambassador noted that 
al-Moayed's crime involved collecting funds in the US and 
from Americans which reinforced US determination to pursue 
his case vigorously. 
 
5. (S) Saleh agreed that Interior Minister Alimi, 
Legatt-designate and Ambassador should work further to 
determine how to deal with the issue. He emphasized the 
political embarrassment the ROYG will suffer if al-Moyad is 
extradited.  He agreed to study the FBI invitation but did 
not commit to sending a Yemeni team.  Ambassador noted that 
al-Moayed was associated with the Islah party which had 
several suspect associations including Sheikh Abdul Magid 
Zindani with al-Qa'ida and the Al Aqsa fund which financed 
Hammas.  Within Palestinian circles, it was known that Islah 
fundraising for Palestine was rife with corruption.  ROYG 
should not associate itself with the Islah party and 
specifically al-Moayed, Ambassador advised. 
 
6. (S) Legatt-designate briefed Saleh on ongoing training of 
Interior Ministry officials on crime scene investigation and 
conveyed personal greetings from FBI Director Mueller.  Saleh 
expressed interest and appreciation for the training and 
reciprocated Muller's greetings. 
 
7. (S) COMMENT:  Saleh remains personally engaged on the 
al-Moayed case.  The sheikh's charitable works in Sana'a have 
made him a popular figure here.  Saleh continues to hope that 
his extradition to the US can be avoided and it will take 
continuing effort on our part to get the ROYG to acquiesce 
and work with the USG.  Ambassador and Legatt-designate will 
follow up with Interior Minister and try to move toward 
US-Yemeni cooperation rather than confrontation. 
HULL