Yemen and the US talk terrorism, sea piracy

SANA'A, June 17 (Saba) - Minister of Interior Mutahar Rashad
al-Masri held talks Thursday with US Deputy Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Middle East Colin Kahl over security cooperation between
Yemen and the United States.

The two discussed a number of topics topped by the fight against
terror and sea piracy.

They also offered new views to develop the Yemeni-US
cooperation to tackle piracy as well as discussing reasons behind
the surge in pirate attacks against vessels off Somalia in recent
years.

At the meeting, Kahl praised Yemen's efforts in the fight against
terrorism and piracy, pointing to terrorist cells arrested by the
Yemeni security forces.

The US-Yemeni partnership is one of those successful and most
effective partnerships in the region, Kahl said.

Al-Masri reiterated Yemen's readiness to do all it can to help
uproot terrorism and piracy off Somalia, highlighting Yemeni
security coordination with its neighbors.

Sharing information among the region and Europe and the US on
fighting terrorism and maritime piracy is fruitful, he said.

Furthermore, al-Masri touched upon the issue of the relocation of
al-Qaeda fighters from tribal areas along the Afghan-Pakistan
border, saying all reports in this regard were baseless and
irresponsible.

Yemen has not been and will never be a suitable haven for al-Qaeda.

Yemeni authorities have arrested many al-Qaeda rings and foiled many
terrorist attacks in the country this year.

Dozens of people went on trials on terrorism charges and others'
trials still under process.

The security forces in Yemen are always ready to stand up for those
who think to destabilize the country and harm the people's
interests, al-Masri said.

Earlier, the US claimed that al-Qaeda fighters were moving to Yemen,
attributing the moves to intensified drone attacks against militants
in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

On the situation in Somalia, the minister said that the situation
there is deteriorating, urging the international community to help
the Somalis to rebuilt their state to avoid turning this country
into a stage to threat security and stability in the region and
world.