R 051401Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY SANAA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0596

UNCLAS SANAA 001819 
 
 
FOR NEA/ARP:AMACDONALD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL YM
SUBJECT: YEMENI REACTION TO US ELECTION: GREAT NATION, 
MABROOK 
 
¶1.  On November 5, the Ambassador hosted a morning reception 
to give key post contacts the opportunity to watch the 
results of the US presidential elections with embassy 
officers.  At that event and in EmbOffs' other meetings, the 
response to the elections has been overwhelmingly positive. 
Post,s interlocutors expressed their happiness, both with 
the President-Elect, and with an electoral system that would 
allow a member of what is seen as an oppressed minority to 
rise to the nation,s highest office. 
 
¶2.  Parliamentarian and member of the ruling General People's 
Congress (GPC) Nabil Basha told POL/E Chief that he felt 
Obama would be an excellent president and well-received in 
the Arab world.  A member of Post's Office of Military 
Cooperation was stopped by a stranger and told, "if you elect 
Obama there will be fewer recruits for al-Qaeda."  World Bank 
Senior Economist Ali Alabdulrazzaq told EconOff that an Obama 
presidency could serve to "soften some (negative) feelings" 
about the United States in the Arab world.  Al-Jazeera's 
Sana'a Bureau Chief told ConOff, "This is a victory for 
America." 
 
3  Other contacts saw the election of an African American as 
evidence that the United States is a land where the benefits 
of democracy are available to all.  Parliamentarian Shawki 
al-Kahdi told the Embassy, "Obama winning is a clear 
indicator that America is a land of democracy whether we 
agree on its foreign policy or not."  Secretary General 
Yassine Noman of the opposition Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP) 
said this is a "Historic moment for a great nation.   Once 
again America is an example for the world."  GPC 
Parliamentarian Shawki Shamsan told POL/E Chief that the 
election of an African American "is an example to us, we can 
learn from you."  Perhaps the most eloquent (and surely the 
briefest) comment on the election was a text message from Ali 
Saif Hassan of the Political Development Forum which read 
simply "Great Nation, Mabrook (congratulations.)" 
 
SECHE