Gulf | Yemen
US not doing enough to help Yemen, says official
A senior Yemeni official said US President Barack Obama should address the question of poverty and be realistic if he wants his Cairo address to be effective.
- By Nasser Arrabyee, Correspondent
- Published: 17:11 June 3, 2009
Sanaa: A senior Yemeni official said US President Barack Obama should address the question of poverty and be realistic if he wants his Cairo address to be effective.
Presidential adviser Abdul Kareem Al Eryani also said that the United States is not doing enough to help Yemen fight poverty and terrorism.
"For President Obama's speech to be effective, it has to be realistic. He has to talk about how the United States has failed to hold up its end of the bargain with my country, and others in the Islamic world," Al Eryani said.
Al Eryani told the New York Times that Yemen has helped the US fight terrorism but “the United States has not done enough to help us fight poverty, the twin brother of terrorism."
The official, who is currently participating in observation of the Lebanese elections, said that jobless young people join Al Qaida because of poverty and unemployment.
"With our oil revenues declining, Yemen has a poverty rate of 40 per cent and an unemployment rate of 35 per cent. This creates the danger that our young will see joining Al Qaida as a good job opportunity,'' he said.
"Mr. Obama must address the question of poverty. It could one day help him, to paraphrase George W. Bush, ‘Avoid firing a $100,000 missile at a $700 tent'," he said.
News Editor's choice
-
Credit profiles in six months
Credit profiles for individuals, firms to be made available to creditors in six months
-
Uncertainty ahead of UP vote
Seven-phase polling begins today in the testing ground for national parties
-
Go shopping with Nol cards soon
RTA in talks with top grocery and supermarket chains on new feature
