VZCZCXRO7628
RR RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHJI #0012 0081213
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 081213Z JAN 08
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0450
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHYN/AMEMBASSY SANAA 0124

C O N F I D E N T I A L JEDDAH 000012 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/ARP FOR BOB JACHIM AND SANJAY RAMESH 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/08/2018 
TAGS: PREL SCUL SOCIO SA
SUBJECT: GCC COUNTRIES IMPRESSED WITH ABHA CULTURE AND 
COMMERCE FESTIVAL 
 
 
Classified By: Consul General Tatiana C. Gfoeller for Reasons 1.4 (b) a 
nd (d). 
 
¶1. (C) The CG visited the Yemeni Consulate General on 
December 31 to offer condolences for the death of Sheikh 
Abdullah Bin Hussein Al Ahmar, the speaker of Yemen's 
parliament.  During the visit, the Yemeni CG, Ambassador 
Mohammed Al Qutaish, said that he had read much about the 
American Culture and Commerce Festival organized by ConGen 
Jeddah in Abha in November (septel).  Ambassador Al Qutaish 
said that the Consuls General for the various GCC countries 
in Jeddah had taken note and were impressed that the USG 
carried out a project of this scale outside of the Kingdom's 
three largest cities of Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dhahran.  The 
Gulf CG's had spoken with many Jeddawis who had traveled to 
Abha for the festival, and had also met Asir locals who were 
both touched and proud that their province was receiving such 
attention from the USG. 
 
¶2. (C) Ambassador Al Qutaish said that he is now planning a 
similar project in conjunction with the other Gulf CG's, who 
all feel "a little bit ashamed that we have neglected to 
share our diverse cultural traditions with our brother 
Muslims, the Saudis, while Americans have done it."  However, 
he complained that Yemen's proximity to the Kingdom produces 
a high caseload of immigration and labor issues that prevents 
him from devoting sufficient time to cultural outreach 
projects.  He further stated that there are approximately 
500,000 Yemeni guest workers in the Western Province of Saudi 
Arabia alone and that he is "responsible" for all of them. 
Thus, paradoxically, Yemen is less able to engage its 
neighbor through cultural diplomacy than is the 
geographically remote USG.  (Note: he did not discuss 
directly the reason for his GCC colleagues' lack of cultural 
involvement throughout the Western Province but implied that 
they would have more time and money to devote to such 
projects than the Yemeni Consulate General.  End Note.) 
 
¶3. (C) Nonetheless, Ambassador Al Qutaish noted that, like 
ConGen Jeddah, Yemeni diplomats are able to make regular 
visits to the ten major cities in the Western Region: Tabuk, 
Yanbu, Medina, Taif, Al Baha, Abha, Jizan, Najran, and 
Farasan, as well as Mecca.  Al Qutaish concluded with an only 
slightly veiled reference to the fact that much of the 
southern Western Province is actually "Yemeni in character 
and culture" since it was conquered from Yemen by Saudi 
Arabia.  "For myself, I am going to concentrate on telling 
Yemen's cultural story to northerners, like people in Tabuk. 
The people in the South share our culture already." 
GFOELLER