From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Dec 29 2009 - 18:06:18 EST
Official: Behind scenes, U.S. prodding Yemen to confront al Qaeda
>From Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent
December 29, 2009 10:10 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* U.S. intelligence playing increased role in urging Yemeni president
to fight terror
* Pentagon is spending $66 million this year to provide Yemen with
security, military assistance
* Yemeni forces being trained on counterterrorism operations by U.S.,
official says
* Declining security situation in Yemen makes the effort against al
Qaeda even harder
Washington (CNN) -- "Solid intelligence" from U.S. and Yemen services
finally persuaded Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh last summer to accept
increased help in fighting al Qaeda in his country, a senior U.S. official
told CNN.
After years of pressure from the U.S. to crack down on al Qaeda in Yemen,
Saleh was persuaded to accept help after he was presented with intelligence
that al Qaeda "was targeting inner circle Yemeni leaders" and that there
were a growing number of terrorist training camps in Yemen, the official
said.
The official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the
situation in the wake of the attempted attack on Northwest Airlines Flight
253, detailed to CNN growing U.S. involvement in fighting al Qaeda in Yemen.
A Nigerian man is accused of trying to blow up the Northwest flight carrying
300 passengers from the Netherlands to Michigan on Christmas Day. A federal
security bulletin obtained by CNN said suspect Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab
claimed the explosive device used Friday "was acquired in Yemen along with
instructions as to when it should be used."
Both Gen. David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, and John
Brennan, President Obama's counterterrorism adviser, visited
<http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Ali_Abdullah_Saleh> Saleh in Yemen last summer
to lay out the terrorist threat. The official said after those meetings, it
was clear that Saleh was finally seeing the threat as "much more alarming"
than he had previously.
Petraeus had already been laying the groundwork with the Obama
administration that al Qaeda in Yemen was a growing threat, and Petraeus was
setting up U.S. military assistance efforts including the use of special
operations forces inside Yemen to help train Yemeni forces on
counterterrorism operations, the official said.
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/mosaic/bttn_close.gif
http://www.cnn.com/video/world/2009/12/28/starr.al.qaeda.yemen.cnn.640x360.j
pg
In part, the U.S. believes Saleh turned around at that time also because of
pressure from Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf nations, especially after
the attempted assassination of Saudi Deputy Interior Minister Mohammed bin
Naif by a suspected al Qaeda operative coming from Yemen. The U.S. also
provided additional intelligence that al Qaeda was planning to strike
targets in the capital city of Sanaa.
The Pentagon is spending about $66 million this year to provide Yemen with
security and military assistance including training Yemeni counter-terrorist
forces.
But the official and other administration sources confirmed that behind the
scenes, much more is going on. U.S. military and intelligence agencies are
providing not only training, but weapons and intelligence-targeting
information.
This official, as well as other administration officials, have continually
declined to say whether U.S. warplanes, drones or cruise missiles have been
used in several recent strikes against al Qaeda targets in Yemen.
Concerns about the growing al Qaeda safe haven have been made more severe by
the declining security situation in Yemen. The official noted there is a
rebellion by Huti tribes in the north and secessionists in the southern
tribal areas.
There also has been declining oil production, which has led to budget cuts
in Yemen's security apparatus.
Other factors that have made Yemen a concern include a growing youth
population, hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees and an increasing water
shortage that is exacerbated by the growing production of the drug khat,
which contains an amphetamine-like substance and requires more water than
many other crops.
There is also a substantial arms and drug smuggling network, with
intelligence indicating some arms shipments to Hamas via Sudan and then
Egypt.
The official said not only are there senior al Qaeda leaders "putting down
roots" in Yemen, but next door Somalia has now become home to al Qaeda in
East Africa, which has ties to terrorists in Yemen, as well as to senior al
Qaeda leaders across North Africa and in the Pakistani border region with
Afghanistan.
http://www.cnn.com/video/world/2009/12/28/starr.al.qaeda.yemen.cnn.640x360.j
pgVideo: Al Qaeda 'safe haven' in Yemen
RELATED TOPICS
* Yemen <http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Yemen>
* Al Qaeda <http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Al_Qaeda>
* Ali Abdullah Saleh <http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Ali_Abdullah_Saleh>
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