VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHYN #1540 2591314
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151314Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY SANAA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0314
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0280
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SANAA 001540 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/ARP FOR AMACDONALD; DRL FOR JBARGHOUT/JKERN; PRM FOR 
ETHIBAULT/EHARRIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF KIRF YM
SUBJECT: NO CHANGE ON BAHA'I CASE: DEPORTATION STILL 
PLANNED TO COUNTRY OF THEIR CHOOSING 
 
REF: SANAA 1521 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: There continues to be no change in the 
ROYG's position vis a vis the detained Baha'is.  The 
President has officially signed an order calling for the 
deportation of the four detainees to the country of their 
choice.  UNHCR has still not been granted access to the 
prisoners, putting on hold the US resettlement process.  End 
Summary 
 
¶2. (SBU) Consistent with the information reported in reftel, 
the ROYG continues to push for the deportation of the four 
detained Baha'is.  On September 14, lawyers and members of 
the Yemeni Baha'i community told Poloff that President Saleh 
signed an order to deport the detainees to the country of 
their choice.  No date was specified for the deportation. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Also during the September 14 meeting, lawyers of the 
detainees told Poloff that corruption, not religious 
persecution, was the cause of the arrests.  The lawyers 
alleged that Hawk International, an oil company employing 
detainee Behrooz Rohani, refused to pay eight million dollars 
in a concession deal to relatives of the President, most 
notably NSB Deputy Director and Presidential nephew, Ammar 
Saleh.  After Hawk International won its case in court, 
Rohani was arrested in retaliation.  When Poloff asked why 
Rohani was targeted and why other Baha'is with no relation to 
the company were arrested with him, the lawyers said that as 
Executive Manager of Hawk International, Rohani was thought 
to be the "mastermind" of the deal and that others were 
arrested to justify Rohani's arrest under the pretext that 
Baha'is were proselytizing.  A member of the Sana'a Baha'i 
community, Badiuallah Sanai, agreed that this business deal 
was the cause for the arrests. 
 
¶4. (SBU) UNHCR senior protection officer Samer Haddadin 
reported to Poloff on September 15 that UNHCR has still not 
been granted access to the detainees.  As access has not been 
granted, UNHCR has not provided resettlement applications to 
the detainees, putting the US resettlement process on hold. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment:  Post frequently hears reports of 
retaliatory arrests linked to (often corrupt) financial deals 
gone awry.  While we have no evidence this is the case with 
the current group of detainees, it may explain why President 
Saleh involved himself directly in the case by signing the 
deportation order.  Post will continue to ask the ROYG to 
release the arrested Baha'is, but as an interim step will 
also press the ROYG to grant UNHCR officials access to the 
prisoners.  End Comment 
SECHE