New plan needed to fight Al Qaida, minister says

Sana'a:  Yemeni foreign minister Abu Bakr Al Qurbi said combating terrorism needs a new strategy for removing the reasons that created the terrorists.

"We need a strategy to deal with these elements not only in the field of security and intelligence, but also in development and education," the minister said in an interview with Gulf News.

Al Qaida in Yemen claimed responsibility for recent attacks on the security offices in Aden and Abyan last month and this month and threatened to continue its operations.

Al Qurbi said Al Qaida's influence in Yemen is exaggerated. "Al Qaida exists in Yemen but it is exaggerated," he said. But he said that cooperation and coordination among countries that combat terrorism should be reviewed for making it more effective.

"All countries need to review their coordination and cooperation for combating Al Qaida and removing the reasons which led to the emergence of such extremists and terrorists," he said.

Partners

Al Qurbi said his country and the US and other partners are coordinating mainly in the fields of intelligence, training of counter-terrorism forces, and logistic cooperation. "More efforts should be exerted not only by Yemen but by all partners."

Al Qaida is only one of the several challenges that Yemen faces — Al Houthi armed rebellion in the north and separation calls in the south and economic deterioration.

Dozens were killed and injured in clashes between Al Houthi rebels and tribes loyal to the government over the last two weeks in the north after the government returned to a former Qatari mediation to end the sporadic six-year-old conflict. The Qatari mediation failed in 2007 and 2008 to end the conflict.

In February, Al Houthi rebels accepted the six conditions set by the government to end the war. The rebels have not dismounted from mountains and have not handed over the weapons, which were key conditions. Al Qurbi said that returning to the Doha agreement does not mean cancellation of the conditions. "We agreed to activate the Doha agreement and we took into consideration the six conditions set by the government," he said. "We returned to Qatari brothers because their initiative focuses on peace and reconstruction." The minister said the Qatari position is very clear in terms of supporting Yemeni unity and ending the rebellion.