U.S. to Train Yemeni Soldiers in Hunt for Al Qaeda Suspects

The United States does not expect to deploy combat troops in Yemen to hunt for suspected Al Qaeda terrorists, but it will help train Yemen’s military, the head of the U.S. military’s Central Command said Monday.

On a visit to Sana, the Yemeni capital, Gen. Tommy Franks discussed military and security cooperation with President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Asked if Washington was ready to send troops to Yemen, where at least two Al Qaeda suspects wanted by the United States are reportedly hiding, Franks said, “I don’t think at this time we have any expectation of putting U.S. combat troops here on the ground.”

He said Saleh had not asked for U.S. combat troops but was interested in military training and assistance in creating a coast guard to help the Yemenis protect their coastline.

Washington has been pushing Yemen for greater cooperation on anti-terrorism since the October 2000 attack on the U.S. destroyer Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden.

Yemen, the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, has committed itself to joining the U.S. war on terrorism. But Yemeni officials say this cannot be done without U.S. training, military assistance and aid.

Last week, President Bush asked Congress to reward America’s new friends in the war against terror. Just $2 million in military aid was earmarked for Yemen.

On Saturday, the government-run Yemen Observer reported a comment from an unidentified Defense Ministry official saying the amount was “a big joke.”

Yemen’s government admits Al Qaeda suspects may exist in the country, but it says the network has no military training camps or any other organized presence.

At least two terror suspects believed to be in Yemen, Qaed Salim Sunian Harethi, allegedly a top Al Qaeda official, and Mohammed Hamdi Ahdal, are wanted by the United States in the Cole attack.

Eighteen soldiers and six tribesmen were killed in December when Yemeni special forces trained with U.S. help pushed into a tribal region where the two were suspected to be hiding. Yemen’s government has said it is negotiating with tribes that may be sheltering the pair but that it will use force if they are not turned over peacefully.

In Washington, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said Bush spoke by telephone with Saleh just after Franks’ visit.

Bush “expressed appreciation for the Saleh government’s recent efforts to deny terrorists use of Yemeni territory,” Fleischer said.