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Gulf News - June 18, 2003
Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh yesterday held talks with a senior U.S. official on joint cooperation for combating terrorism.
The official Yemen news agency said that Saleh's talks with John Fulton, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Armament Affairs, dealt with "bilateral relations and fields of joint cooperation."
The agency added the U.S. official valued the existing cooperation between the two countries in various fields especially in combating terror.
Official sources said the talks focused on the Yemen military cooperation with the U.S. forces in combating terrorism in the African Horn.
The visit of the U.S. official coincides with the U.S. naval forces' announcement of the highest alert state in anticipation of possible terrorist attacks on the U.S. troops based in Bab Al Mandab Strait, Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden.
Meanwhile, the Djibouti President Ismael Omar Guelleh left Sana'a following a two-day official visit to Yemen during which he conducted talks with President Saleh on enhancing the bilateral security relations, and cooperation in field of combating terror, the latest developments in the region, situation in the African Horn and Somalia.
The visit of president Guelleh comes following reports that Sana'a, Doha and Djibouti are coordinating to form a U.S.-backed alliance within the framework of combating terrorism inside the Arabian Peninsula and African Horn.
Sources said here that the Qatari Emir His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, during his visit to Yemen and Djibouti late last week, conveyed a U.S. vision to Sanaa and Djibouti concerning the war on terror.
The sources said that U.S. is trying to exploit the coldness in relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia to make an alliance and that can press Saudi Arabia with the objective of implementing a number of steps in connection with the political reform, and the education curriculums and hunting the alleged Al Qaida supporters and sympathizers in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
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