The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
March 28, 2011

Talks in Yemen Collapse as U.S. Expresses Concern Over Terrorist Threat 
------------------------------------------------------------------------



The Wall Street Journal is reporting Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh
has reportedly backed away from a deal struck over the weekend that
would have him step down from power immediately, but keep his relatives
in charge of the country's elite counter-terrorism forces. During an
interview with Al Arabiya, Saleh warned Yemen would end up in a
destructive civil war if he left office. On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates said the potential fall of Saleh is a "real
concern."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates: "I think it is a real concern because
the most active-and at this point perhaps the most aggressive branch of
Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula-operates out of Yemen ...
And we've had counter-terrorism cooperation with President Saleh and the
Yemeni security services."



.