A high-ranking security official in Yemen has denied recent press reports claiming that Yemen has turned into a big hideout for terrorists. The official said that such news promoted by the press is “baseless.”
In a statement to 26 September newspaper on Thursday, the senior security official said that the Republic of Yemen supported all the international efforts for fighting terrorism and refuses to accept any hideouts for the terrorists in its territories and would stand against terrorism in all its forms.
Moreover, he confirmed that only 19 people have returned from Afghanistan as they have been handed to the Yemeni government and are still under custody for investigation.
The source highly evaluated the mutual cooperation between Yemen and the US in the field of combating terrorism, noting a team of American experts who have trained Yemeni security forces, allocated for fighting terrorism.
There is also mutual cooperation between the two countries in the field of security and exchanging intelligence information, related to the two countries’ efforts in combating terrorism, the source added.
Yemen said Wednesday it would use only its own troops to hunt down al Qaeda suspects, dismissing reports that U.S. special forces may launch covert operations against militants believed to have fled Afghanistan.
"Yemen's position is clear: Yemeni forces are the ones responsible for conducting any operations -- be they searches or attacks," a government official told Reuters.
The official was responding to an ABC News report Tuesday that the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. military were ready to launch a large covert operation in Yemen to hunt down al Qaeda fugitives. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
