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DE RUEHYN #0032 0101047
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P 101047Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY SANAA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3500

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 000032 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR AARON JOST 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/10/2020 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL PTER KPAO YM
SUBJECT: YEMENI OFFICIALS USE MEDIA TO SEND MESSAGE OF "NO 
BOOTS ON THE GROUND" 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and 
Security Affairs, Rashad Al-Alimi, held a press conference in 
Sanaa on January 7, ostensibly to address all of Yemen's 
security issues, although Alimi used the occasion to send a 
clear signal through the international media that Yemen would 
not tolerate "U.S. boots on the ground." The evening before, 
Foreign Minister al-Qirbi told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that 
"fighting the Al-Qaeda militants is the priority and 
responsibility of Yemen's security forces and the army," 
adding that Yemen would not accept U.S. military 
intervention because "I think that the U.S. has learned from 
Afghanistan and Iraq and other places that direct 
intervention can be self-defeating."  Echoing this theme, 
media outlets in Yemen cherry-picked quotes from remarks 
delivered by Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint 
Chiefs of Staff, at the Naval War College, in response to a 
query about whether the U.S. would send forces in Yemen that 
"The answer is that we have no plans to do that, and we 
shouldn't forget this is a sovereign country." END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security 
Affairs, Rashad Al-Alimi, held a press conference in Sanaa on 
January 7, attended by local media in addition to the cadre 
of international correspondents currently in Yemen. Minister 
of Information Al-Lowzi quickly ceded the floor to Alimi, who 
addressed a host of security topics. Alimi stated that "Yemen 
rejects any presence of foreign troops on its lands..." and 
reiterated that "Yemen's cooperation with the international 
community is limited to training, technical support, and 
information exchange."  Alimi warmed to his topic in a long 
and detailed description of Yemen's efforts to combat 
terrorism, stating that the security situation in Yemen is 
under control because "security services are able to confront 
challenges, eradicate all terrorist groups and refer those 
outlaw elements to face justice."  He said that Yemen's 
counterterrorism strategy involves signing CT agreements with 
several countries, engaging in a "dialogue approach" with 
"misguided elements" and launching awareness campaigns on the 
dangers of extremism and terrorism. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In a wide-ranging discussion of Yemen's security 
issues, Alimi asserted that "Yemen needs support for its 
development process and counterterrorism plans so as not to 
reach a state of failure."  Regarding the Northwest Airline 
"underwear bomber," Nigerian Omar Abdulmutallab, Alimi said 
he may have met with Sheikh Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, as well 
as AQAP operative, Mohammad Omair, who was killed in the 
December 24 air raid in Wadi Rafadh in Shabwah.  Alimi, 
however, stunned the international audience with claims that 
Abdulmutallab had been supplied with the explosive material 
in Nigeria, not Yemen. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Local and international media text-messaged Foreign 
Minister al-Qirbi's assertion during his January 6 CNN 
interview that "fighting the Al-Qaeda militants is the 
priority and responsibility of Yemen's security forces and 
the army," telling Christiane Amanpour that Yemen would not 
accept U.S. military  intervention because "I think that the 
U.S. has learned from Afghanistan and Iraq and other places 
that direct intervention can be self-defeating."  Media 
outlets in Yemen on January 8 picked up the speech by Admiral 
Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered 
at the Naval War College, and quoted his response to a query 
about sending U.S. forces in Yemen: "The answer is that we 
have no plans to do that, and we shouldn't forget this is a 
sovereign country." 
 
¶5. (C) COMMENT:  Alimi's message of "no U.S. boots on the 
ground in Yemen" is consistent with the message that the ROYG 
has been confirming in public statements over the past two 
weeks, that Yemen is serious about fighting al-Qaeda, and 
capable of doing so with limited support from Washington.  To 
the extent that our public statements continue to reflect a 
sensitivity to the "amour-propre" of Yemen's leadership on 
this subject, we can expect the Yemeni government to continue 
to publicly affirm its seriousness about prosecuting its 
counterterrorism objectives and perhaps to match these 
expressions of intent with actions on the ground.  END 
COMMENT. 
SECHE