Attention Turns to Yemen in Anti-Terror Fight

The government has sent large numbers of troops to battle al-Qaida, but it must also deal with the country's other problems. Transcript of radio broadcast:

09 January 2010

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Yemen is the poorest Arab nation. Poverty can help breed extremism -- al-Qaida is a growing concern for the Yemenis. But the government also faces an armed rebellion in the north and a separatist movement in the south.

Yemeni anti-terrorist forces train near Sanaa this weekIn Sanaa, fears of an al-Qaida attack led to temporary closures this week of the American, British and French embassies. Yemeni officials say they have increased protection of foreign interests in the capital. They have also sent thousands of troops to Arhab and other areas to battle the local al-Qaida group.

Yemen also plays a part in the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. He is the man accused of trying to bomb an American plane with explosives in his underwear.

A Yemeni deputy prime minister said Thursday that the twenty-three year old Nigerian met last year in Yemen with Anwar al-Awlaki. The American-born Muslim clergyman is accused of supporting al-Qaida.

But the deputy prime minister said al-Qaida first recruited the young man in Britain when he was a student in London. The official also warned against foreign military intervention in Yemen, saying that could strengthen al-Qaida.