A senior US delegation has reviewed with Kuwaiti officials ways to tackle the issues of money laundering and the sponsoring of terrorism in Yemen, a local daily said.
The meeting in Kuwait City between Shaikh Thamer Al Ali, the deputy head of Kuwait's National Security Agency, and the US delegation headed by David Cohen, Department of the Treasury's Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, agreed on "the need to rescue the Yemeni society from the very low living standards that are being used to promote violence and terrorism," Al Qabas daily said.
Kuwait is currently the chair of the Gulf Cooperation Council following the summit hosted in Kuwait City last December. The six GCC member countries pledged to offer full support to the Yemeni authorities in their efforts to combat rebels and terrorists.
Cohen, appointed in May 2009, is responsible for formulating and coordinating counter-terrorism financing and anti-money laundering efforts of the Department of the Treasury.
In this role, Cohen is a key member of the Obama Administration's national security team in developing financial strategies to combat threats, ranging from terrorism, organized crime, to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
On January 2, London said that it would discuss developments in Yemen with the European Union and that it would push for tougher action on Yemen from the Financial Action Task Force, an international body tackling money laundering and funding for violent extremist groups.
Washington and London have pledged to step up action to fight extremism in Yemen and Somalia, and have agreed to fund a counter-terrorism police unit in Yemen as part of efforts to fight terrorism.
Last September, the UK developed a renewed UK Country Strategy for Yemen as the Foreign Office said that support to the conflict-plagued country is expected to exceed £100 million by 2011.
The British embassy in Sana'a closed on January 3, following security concerns, but has since reopened. In 2009 the British embassy closed ten times.
