The leaked documents show Saleh was willing to let the US troops tackle

[al-Qaeda on Yemeni soil [GALLO/GETTY

A handful of the diplomatic cables released by the whistle-blower site

WikiLeaks this week focused on Yemen. Intelligence officials worry that the
leaked dispatches could end up helping al-Qaida's arm in Yemen with its
recruitment efforts. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, known as AQAP, has
criticized the Yemeni government, saying it is corrupt and insufficiently
Islamic, and the cables, at least on a cursory level, could be seen as
.bearing that out

Two of the cables in particular could provide some trouble for the Yemeni
government. One describes a meeting between Gen. David Petraeus and
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and another chronicles a
.conversation about whiskey smuggling

The first is based on a meeting between the general and the Yemeni
president in January, just weeks after the U.S. had launched two airstrikes
in Yemen. The target of the strikes had been members of AQAP. And the
.attacks proved to be controversial because there were civilian casualties

The cable is a bit embarrassing for Saleh because it suggests that his
government deliberately misled the Yemeni people and its parliament into
thinking the December strikes were American missiles fired by the Yemeni
government. "We'll continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours," the
cable quotes Saleh as telling Petraeus. Then one of his aides interrupts
.and jokes about Saleh lying to his own parliament about the strikes

This is something that won't necessarily surprise a great many people

within the elite circles in Yemen. But when you get outside, in some of the
tribal areas where al-Qaida is really attempting to recruit people, having
something like this where the president and his ministers are on the
record talking about lying and deceiving parliament and the Yemeni
public, I think it will have traction. Al-Qaida will be able to use it in the
.months to come

Gregory Johnsen, Princeton University -

This is something that won't necessarily surprise a great many people"
within the elite circles in Yemen," said Gregory Johnsen, a Yemen expert at
Princeton University. "But when you get outside, in some of the tribal
areas where al-Qaida is really attempting to recruit people, having
something like this where the president and his ministers are on the
record talking about lying and deceiving parliament and the Yemeni
public, I think it will have traction. Al-Qaida will be able to use it in the
".months to come

And, as the U.S. tries to mitigate the damage the release of the cables has
wrought, the Yemen dispatches may be one of the few places where the
WikiLeaks release had negative consequences -– specifically by providing
.more fodder for al-Qaida's recruitment efforts in Yemen and abroad

Another cable describes an exchange between the Yemeni president and

the Obama administration's counterterrorism chief, John Brennan. The
Yemeni president complains about smuggling from a nearby country,
Djibouti. But he says his chief concern is the illegal flow of drugs and
weapons, not whiskey — "provided it's good whiskey," he says. Then he
.laughs

Whiskey, like all alcoholic beverages, is forbidden by Islam. And Saleh's

apparent lighthearted attitude again plays into al-Qaida's hands. In late
2009, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula actually executed a Yemeni
.government official for smuggling whiskey into the country

One of the issues that AQAP has had with Yemeni government is that it"
claims over and over that the Yemen government doesn't uphold Shariah
law," says Princeton's Johnsen. "So for them to be able to position the
president as someone who drinks whiskey, who jokes about whiskey, this
will really fit seamlessly into the narrative they have been peddling for the
".past several years

Al-Qaida won't need to do much to get its latest message about Saleh and
his government out to the people of Yemen and beyond, says Christopher
Boucek, an associate in the Middle East program at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace. He says the comments will come up in
what is basically the Yemeni equivalent of England's afternoon tea: the
.ritual khat chews
Yemenis chew a stimulant called khat every afternoon. Men gather in
large halls, chew the leaves and branches of the plant and then share the
.news of the day and talk politics

The fact that every day, there is a built-in block of hours during khat"
chews for people to get together and talk and discuss, means this
message will get out there," Boucek said. "I am sure this will be the
".essential part of discussions for khat chews for the coming weeks

The conversation is unlikely to be a faithful account as to what the

WikiLeaks cables really say. Boucek says Yemenis wouldn't understand
that the cables are supposed to be some accurate record of a diplomatic
.meeting

I doubt very many Yemenis are going to appreciate that this is how the"
State Department does business," he said. "But that's not really the point.
The point is this portrays a relationship that most Yemenis are ready to
believe and this backs up those suspicions" — rampant suspicions that the
Yemeni government is doing America's bidding and that the U.S. has been
.stepping up its presence there

WikiLeaks: Yemeni president covers up U.S. strikes

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh admits covering

up US military strikes on Al-Qaeda in Yemen by claiming they are carried
.out by Yemeni forces, according to US documents leaked by WikiLeaks

We'll continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours," Saleh said in"
January talks with General David Petraeus, then commander of US forces
in the Middle East, according to a leaked US diplomatic cable published by
.the New York Times

.The cable was sent by the US ambassador to Yemen, the daily said

The daily said the remarks prompted Yemen's deputy prime minister to
"joke that he had just 'lied' by telling parliament" that Yemeni forces had
staged the strikes against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Al-Qaeda's
.Yemeni arm
And during a meeting about Al-Qaeda with John Brennan, the US deputy
national security adviser, Saleh was "dismissive, bored and impatient,"
according to another leaked US diplomatic cable published in Britain's The
.Guardian

The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Washington had
.deployed drones to hunt down jihadists

With more than 100,000 US troops fighting Al-Qaeda's allies in

Afghanistan and public skepticism in Yemen over the US military's role
there, US officials have stressed that Sanaa will lead the fight against
.Islamist militants

On November 16, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said providing

equipment and training to Yemeni security forces offered the best way to
counter the threat posed by Al-Qaeda militants

.Yemen 'opened door' to US forces

Yemen's president secretly offered US forces access to his country to take on al-
Qaeda, according to the latest diplomatic cables released by whistleblowing website
WikiLeaks.

Ali Abdullah Saleh told John Brennan, the US president's deputy national security
adviser, that the US had an "open door on terrorism" in Yemen, according to reports
in The Guardian and The New York Times on Friday.

"I have given you an open door on terrorism. So I am not responsible," Saleh told
Brennan back in September 2009, the papers reported.

But both newspapers said that Yemen has in fact put limits on access by US forces in
order to avoid domestic criticism.

Washington fears the country, the poorest in the Arab world, has become a haven for
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

'State secret'

Saleh also admitted misleading his people by claiming that US cruise missile attacks
on al-Qaeda in Yemen last December were the work of Yemeni forces, with the
support of American intelligence authorities, the papers said.

"We'll continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours," Saleh told General David
Petraeus, then head of US Central Command, on January 2, The Guardian said, citing
the leaked cables.
Other diplomatic documents released by WikiLeaks concerning Yemen showed that
US officials suspected the country had a secret cache of shoulder-fired missiles that
could have threatened US forces if they fell in the wrong hands.

An embassy cable marked "secret" and dated August 4, 2009 said that an informant,
whose name has been redacted, told US political officers that Yemen's defence
ministry "does indeed have 'Manpads', but would never speak of them because they
are considered a state secret".

Man Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS) are shoulder-fired missiles designed
to down aircraft, and were most famously used by Afghan fighters in the 1980s to
shoot down helicopters and eventually drive out Soviet forces.

Miffed Gaddafi

In other documents it appeared that Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, had caused
a month-long nuclear scare in 2009 when he delayed the return to Russia of
radioactive material.

The Guardian said the leaked secret diplomatic cables showed that seven metal casks
sealed only for transport, not for storage, were left at a Libyan nuclear facility with a
single armed guard in November 2009.

Scientists warned that the 5.2 kilogrammes of uranium in the casks was highly
radioactive and rapidly heating up, making it liable to crack the containers and leak
into the atmosphere.

The seven casks of spent nuclear fuel were due to be flown to Russia for disposal on a
specialised transport aeroplane as part of Gaddafi's promise to abandon Libya's
programme of weapons of mass destruction.

But instead Libya refused permission and the Russian aircraft took off without them.

The reason for the sudden change of plan appeared to be that Gaddafi had taken
offence at his treatment during his visit to New York to address the United Nations
two months earlier.

Gaddafi had felt "humiliated" after being barred from pitching his large Bedouin tent
in New York and from visiting the Ground Zero site of the September 11, 2001
attacks, the diplomatic cable showed Saif al-Islam, Gadaffi's son, as telling Gene
Cretz, the US ambassador to Tripoli.

Briefing Skipper: Lima, Wikileaks, Yemen, Gaza, Iran

Posted By Josh Rogin Tuesday, June 8, 2010 - 12:26

PM Share
In which we scour the transcript of the State Department's daily presser so you don't
have to. These are the highlights of Monday's briefing by spokesman P.J. Crowley:
 • Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Lima, Peru on Monday,
attending the general assembly of the Organization of American States. She
also had meetings with Peruvian President Alan Garcia, Mexican Foreign
Ministers Patricia Espinosa Castellano, the foreign ministers of Panama and
Bolivia, as well as the deputy foreign minister of Brazil Antonio de Aguilar
Patriota. She urged the OAS to readmit Honduras, over the objections of
Brazil and others. The OAS is going to study the issue.
• Clinton heads to Ecuador Tuesday to meet with President Rafael
Vicente Correa Delgado, the man who shut down the U.S. base that was a
major drug interception hub there.
• The State Department sent a note to Canada informing them they we
will accept their offer 300 meters of ocean boom to help out in the Gulf oil
spill. Still no word on the over a dozen other offers of international assistance.
The U.S. government is going to pay, but "We anticipate that BP will in turn
reimburse the government for this expenditure," Crowley said.
• No real comment on the reports that 250,000 plus diplomatic cables
were leaked to the website Wikileaks, allegedly by a young, disgruntled Army
intelligence analyst named Bradley Manning. "Everywhere there's a U.S.
post, there's a diplomatic scandal that will be revealed," Manning wrote. "It's
open diplomacy. World-wide anarchy in CSV format. It's Climategate with a
global scope, and breathtaking depth. It's beautiful, and horrifying."
• The State Department is aware that Yemeni authorities have arrested
some people linked to al-Qaeda, including 12 American citizens, but "I'm not
going to talk about specifics," Crowley said.
• The State Department is hoping to head off Iran's effort to bring relief
supplies into Gaza. "We certainly are looking, ourselves, at trying to find ways
of increasing the amount of assistance that goes to the people of Gaza,"
Crowley said, adding, "I don't think that Iran's intentions vis-a-vis Gaza are
benign." State also is not objecting to Egypt's opening of their border with
Gaza.
• Iran sanctions vote in the UN Security Council will be "this week,"
Crowley said. Clinton is warning that Iran might pull another "stunt."

WikiLeaks: U.S. bombs Yemen in secret

Diplomatic cables reveal the U.S. has been launching

strikes in Yemen, but attacks are claimed by local
government
One of the most interesting items in the trove of diplomatic cables released by
Wikileaks confirms that the Obama Administration has secretly launched missile
attacks on suspected terrorists in Yemen, strikes that have reportedly killed dozens of
civilians. The government of Yemen takes responsibility for the attacks.

The January 2010 cable describes a meeting between Gen. David Petraeus and
President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, in which they discuss U.S. airstrikes.

Here's the key section (emphasis ours):

President Obama has approved providing U.S. intelligence in support of ROYG
[Republic of Yemen government] ground operations against AQAP targets, General
Petraeus informed Saleh. Saleh reacted coolly, however, to the General's proposal to
place USG [U.S. government] personnel inside the area of operations armed with real-
time, direct feed intelligence from U.S. ISR [intelligence, surveillance,
reconnaissance] platforms overhead. "You cannot enter the operations area and you
must stay in the joint operations center," Saleh responded. Any U.S. casualties in
strikes against AQAP would harm future efforts, Saleh asserted. Saleh did not have
any objection, however, to General Petraeus' proposal to move away from the use of
cruise missiles and instead have U.S. fixed-wing bombers circle outside Yemeni
territory, "out of sight," and engage AQAP [Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula]
targets when actionable intelligence became available. Saleh lamented the use of
cruise missiles that are "not very accurate" and welcomed the use of aircraft-
deployed precision-guided bombs instead. "We'll continue saying the bombs are
ours, not yours," Saleh said, prompting Deputy Prime Minister Alimi to joke
that he had just "lied" by telling Parliament that the bombs in Arhab, Abyan,
and Shebwa were American-made but deployed by the ROYG.

The three strikes mentioned at the end there each occurred in December 2009, the
month before the cable was written. The Dec. 17 Abyan attack killed 55 people, 41
one of whom were civilians, including 21 children Amnesty International later
reported. Amnesty had also suspected that a U.S. cruise missile was used in the attack
because of images of debris found at the scene. This new cable seems to bear out that
suspicion.

The Dec. 17 attack in the city of Arhab occurred the same day, though it's not clear
who was killed.

And finally, here is a contemporaneous report that mentions the Dec. 24 Shebwa
attack. Here (.pdf) is the official Yemeni statement on that attack, which falsely
claims rseponsibility. The Yemeni government said the strike targeted a meeting of Al
Qaeda leaders, including the American-born Anwar Al-Awlaki. But he turned out
either not to have been there, or not to have been killed. And again, it's not clear
whether any civilians were killed in the attack, which the government claimed killed
30 people.

There has been speculation that the Wikileaks revelation will spark a backlash against
Saleh, but as of yet nothing has been reported.

• Justin Elliott is a Salon reporter. Reach him by email at

jelliott@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @ElliottJustin More: Justin
Elliott
• Yemen’s Foreign Ministry says WikiLeaks memos about content of talks
between Yemeni and U.S. officials are inaccurate and. The ministry, in a
statement Wednesday, said Yemen’s stances are clear and do not carry double
meanings and its dealing with its brothers and friends stem from its. Yemen
says WikiLeaks information inaccurate – Boston Globe Yemen says
WikiLeaks information inaccurate A handful of the diplomatic cables released
by the whistleblower site Wikileaks this week focused on Yemen. Intelligence
officials worry the leaked dispatches could end up helping al-Qaidaaposs arm
 in Yemen with its recruitment efforts. Al-Qaida in the. Yemen’s Foreign
Ministry says WikiLeaks memos about content of talks between Yemeni and
U.S. officials are inaccurate and incorrect. Yemenaposs Foreign Ministry says
WikiLeaks memos about content of talks between Yemeni and U.S. officials
are inaccurate and incorrect. had been told to warn foreign sources of
compromising information contained in the cables and offer them assistance.
WikiLeaks, whatever its flaws might be, is filling a dangerous vacuum in our
information environment. For that, they deserves our thanks.. A second, as
reported by Salon, reveals that: “The Obama administration has secretly
launched missile attacks on suspected terrorists in Yemen, with the Yemeni
government taking responsibility and consistently lying about it. While the
attacks have drawn relatively little public attention, dozens of civilians along
with some.
• Yemen’s Foreign Ministry says WikiLeaks memos about content of talks
between Yemeni and U.S. officials are inaccurate and. The ministry, in a
statement Wednesday, said Yemen’s stances are clear and do not carry double
meanings and its dealing with its brothers and friends. ALwyns news Yemen
says WikiLeaks informa Alwyns Blogit SANAA, Yemen Yemenaposs
Foreign Ministry says WikiLeaks memos about content of talks between
Yemeni and U.S. officials are inaccurate and incorrect. The ministry, in a
statement Wednesday, said Yemenaposs stances are clear and do not carry
double meanings and. Jonathan Weiler: Let Us Now Praise Wikileaks
WikiLeaks Yemen Cables Could Embolden Al-Qaida – NPR News Yemen
Says WikiLeaks Information Inaccurate – Yemen says WikiLeaks information
inaccurate – Yemen Says WikiLeaks Information Inaccurate – A Yemeni
foreign ministry official rejected the comments about Yemen in the leaked
documents, calling them inaccurate. The 250000 diplomatic cables released
by the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks describe the candid views of a
range. Click here to see the comments 2F20102F122F012Fyemen-says-
wikileaks-information-
inaccurate2FYemensaysWikiLeaksinformationinaccurate. Pakistan rejects
fears over its nuclear weapons Reuters KING Correction: Diplomacy
Endangered – AP – Yemen says WikiLeaks information inaccurate AP
Stock Market.
• SANAA, Yemen – Yemenaposs Foreign Ministry says WikiLeaks memos
about content of talks between Yemeni and U.S. officials are inaccurate and
incorrect. The ministry, in a statement Wednesday, said Yemenaposs stances
are clear and do not carry double meanings and. In stories Nov. 30 about the
effects of the WikiLeaks release of U.S. diplomatic documents on diplomacy,
The Associated Press erroneously attributed a quote from Belgian Foreign
Minister Steven Vanackere to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. It was.
Developments from around the world Wednesday on the WikiLeaks file, at a
glance – Canada East Nation World Yemen says WikiLeaks information
inaccurate. Yemen says WikiLeaks information inaccurate Newsvine – Yemen
says WikiLeaks information inaccurate AP – Yemen’s Foreign Ministry says
WikiLeaks memos about content of talks between Yemeni and US officials
are inaccurate and incorrect. Yemen says WikiLeaks information inaccurate –
World News. Yemen’s Foreign Ministry says WikiLeaks memos about
content of talks between Yemeni and U.S. officials are inaccurate and
incorrect. The ministry, in a statement Wednesday, said Yemen’s stances are
 cl Memos inaccurate, says Yemeni minister Yemens Foreign Ministry says
WikiLeaks memos about content of talks. embassies had been told to warn
foreign sources of compromising information contained in the cables and offer
them assistance.
• Yemen says WikiLeaks memos about Yemeni officials talk with Americans
inaccurate US prepared to protect, relocate dissidents and activists named in
leaked State Dept cables WikiLeaks website kicked off ‘s US servers,.
WikiLeaks confirmed the information hours after The Associated Press
reported that Amazon’s servers had stopped hosting WikiLeaks‘ site. The site
was unavailable for several hours before it moved back to its previous
Swedish host,. Yemen says WikiLeaks information inaccurate. SANAA,
Yemen AP – Yemen’s Foreign Ministry says WikiLeaks memos about content
of talks between Yemeni and U.S. officials are inaccurate and incorrect..
Yemen says WikiLeaks information inaccurate. Yemen’s Foreign Ministry
says WikiLeaks memos about content of talks between Yemeni. says
WikiLeaks memos about content of talks between Yemeni and U.S. officials
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Posted by: alwyn100 on: December 1, 2010. In: history Comment ALwyns
news Yemen says WikiLeaks information inaccurate AP
http://ow.ly/1afPeK. Share this: Share. WikiLeaks website kicked off 39s US
servers, goes back to. The Christian Science Monitor – Frances first lady Carla
Bruni not only agrees with Pope Ben Yemen says WikiLeaks informati. AP –
Yemen’s Foreign Ministry says WikiLeaks memos about content of talks
between Yemeni and U.S. of.