VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRH #0082/01 0131441
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 131441Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY RIYADH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9813
INFO RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH IMMEDIATE 9977
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHMFIUU/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE 0269
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS RIYADH 000082 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/ARP WROEBUCK AND JHARRIS, CA/OCS/CI, L; PASS 
DHAHRAN; NSC FOR AP/HSCT WAINSTEIN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CJAN KJUS OPDC PGOV PREL SA
SUBJECT: SAUDIS MAKE SECOND REQUEST FOR PRESIDENTIAL 
PARDONS 
 
REF: 2008 RIYADH 1848 
 
¶1.  (U) The Saudi Arabian Government has for the second time 
requested Presidential pardons for three Saudi nationals 
currently imprisoned in the U.S. via a diplomatic note 
received by the Embassy on January 11, 2009.  An Embassy 
translation of this note follows.  The original will be 
e-mailed to NEA/ARP. 
 
¶2.  (U) Begin text of diplomatic note: 
 
URGENT 
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi 
Arabia (Consular Division) presents its complements to the 
Embassy of the United States of America in Riyadh. 
 
With reference to the Ministry's note number 94/72/2/140335 
dated 17/12/1429 (Dec. 15, 2008) listing names of Saudi 
prisoners in the United States who wish to obtain 
presidential pardon. 
 
Attached herewith a copy of the news article published on 
12/24/2008 about the presidential pardon for 19 prisoners in 
the U.S. and statistics published by the U.S. Department of 
Justice on 12/24/2008 detailing number of those issued 
presidential pardon on 12/24/2008 amounting to 171 prisoners. 
 
The Ministry appreciates your support of our request for 
presidential pardon for Saudi prisoners in the United States. 
 
The Ministry avails itself of this opportunity to renew the 
assurances of its highest consideration. 
 
End text of diplomatic note. 
 
¶3.  (U) Begin text of news article attached to diplomatic 
note: 
 
Bush issues presidential pardons to 19 prisoners, among them 
those who helped Israel in the 1948 war. 
 
Wednesday - Dec. 24, 2008 
 
President Bush granted clemency to 19 people Tuesday, 
including a man who was convicted of delivering planes used 
by Israel in its 1948 war of independence and a real estate 
developer whose father had donated tens of thousands of 
dollars to the Republican candidates and the party. 
 
Charles Winters who died in 1984, bought and transferred 
three B-17 bombers to what would eventually become the 
Israeli Air Force.  He pleaded guilty to violating the 
Neutrality Act and served jail time. 
 
Another man who received a pardon - Isaac Robert Toussie, of 
Brooklyn, N.Y.- pleaded guilty in 2001 to fraudulently 
obtaining mortgages from the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development.  Public records show his father, real estate 
broker Robert Toussie, has donated or helped raise more than 
$35,000 for Republican candidates and the party. 
 
Reginal Brown, an attorney who worked on the Winter's pardon, 
said Mr. Bush's action "rights a historical wrong and honors 
Charlie's belief that the creation of the Jewish State was a 
normal imperative of his time.  ...Charlie Winters helped 
shape human history for the better." 
 
Those who were pardoned Tuesday were convicted of crimes 
ranging from drug offenses to mortgage fraud. 
 
In addition to Mr. Winters and Mr. Toussie, those pardoned 
were William Thomas Alvis III of Publishing, Ohio; John Allen 
Aregood of Riviera, Texas; Eric Charles Blanks of Parker, 
Colorado; Steve Doyle Cavender of the Villages, Florida; 
Marie Elens Eppens of Lynden, Washington; Lydia Lee Ferguson 
of Sun City, Arizona; Eduviges Duvi Gonzalez-Matsumura of 
Clovis, California; George Clarence Greene Jr. of Gray, 
Georgia; James Won Hee Kang of South Barrington, Illinois; 
Alan Stephen Maiss of Reno, Nevada; 
Richard Harold Miller of Tallahassee, Florida; Delano Abraham 
Nixon of Neosho Rapids, Kansas;; John H. Ovewrholt of Black 
Hawk, South Dakota; Morris Keith Parker of Georgetown, South 
Carolina; Robert Truman Reece of Redondo, California; Donald 
Edward Roessler of Harrison, Ohio; and David Lane Woolsey of 
 
St. George, Utah. 
 
Mr. Bush commuted the sentence of Reed Raymond Prior of Des 
Moines, Iowa, who was sentences to life in prison for 
possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. 
 
Mr. Winters is only the second person to receive a pardon 
posthumously.  Henry O. Flipper, the first black graduate of 
the U.S. Military Academy of West Point, was drummed out of 
the Army after white officers accused him of embezzling about 
$3,800 from commissary funds.  Mr. Flipper initially 
discovered the funds missing from his custody and concealed 
their disappearance from superiors, hoping the money would be 
returned.  President Clinton gave Mr. Flipper a full pardon 
in 1999. 
 
The list of those granted clemency Tuesday did not include 
any high-profile criminals seeking pardon before Mr. Bush 
leaves office in January. 
 
Financier Michael Milken, known as the "Junk Bond King." is 
seeking a pardon; commutations are being sought for former 
Louisiana Governor Edwin W. Edwards; former Representative 
Randy "Duke" Cunningham 
-California Republican-; and Border Patrol agents Ignacio 
Ramos and Jose Compean, who are serving prison sentences for 
shooting a drug smugglers (dozen of lawmakers in Washington 
have been pushing Mr. Bush to pardon the agents). 
 
According to the Justice Department, former vice-presidential 
aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr., whose conviction last year 
on obstruction of justice and perjury stemmed from an 
investigation into the release of CIA operative Valerie 
Plame's identity, has not applied for a pardon; but, Mr. Bush 
has already commuted Libby's 30-month prison.  A pardon can 
be granted even if a pardon is not requested. 
 
So far, Mr. Bush has granted 190 pardons and nine 
commutations.  That puts him far behind recent two-term 
presidents Mr. Clinton granted 396 pardons and 61 
commutations, while President Reagan granted 393 pardons and 
13 commutations. 
 
End text of news article attached to diplomatic note. 
RUNDELL