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Cables show sheik offered Yemen protests

WASHINGTON, April 8 (UPI) -- A Yemeni sheik offered to create "controlled chaos" in the country that would lead to the overthrow of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a leaked cable shows.

The diplomatic cable describes Hamid al-Ahmar, a billionaire businessman and member of the opposition, making an approach to U.S. diplomats at the embassy in Sanaa less than two years ago, The Washington Post reported Thursday. He was brushed off, with the cable describing him as most likely a "mild irritation" to Saleh.

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Ahmar talked to an embassy official about organizing mass protests like those that led to the fall of Indonesian President Suharto and those that have sprung up across the Arab world, including Yemen, this year, the report said.

"We cannot copy the Indonesians exactly, but the idea is controlled chaos," Ahmar said.

That cable and some others recently produced by WikiLeaks, the whistle-blower Web site, show the State Department got warnings Saleh's position was becoming weaker. During that period, the Obama administration became more dependent on him in its efforts to contain al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the Post said.

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