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Yemen: Foreign Terrorists Will Not be Tolerated

   VOA News 02 January 2010

   Yemen's  government  vowed  it will not tolerate foreign terrorists on
   its  soil,  one day after a Somali insurgent group said it was sending
   fighters.
   Foreign  Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi told the official Saba news agency
   Saturday that Yemen is ready to oppose anyone threatening its security
   and stability.
   His  comments  follow  a promise Friday by Somalia's al-Shabab to send
   fighters   to   aid   al-Qaida  militants  currently  battling  Yemeni
   government forces.
   A  senior  al-Shabab  official, Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansour, also
   called on Muslims in other countries to join the fight.
   His  news  conference  featured  hundreds  of  newly-trained al-Shabab
   fighters chanting "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great."
   Yemen's  foreign  minister  says  instead  of exporting terrorism, the
   al-Shabab  militants  should  contribute  to  stability  in  their own
   war-torn country.
   The  Yemeni  government has conducted a series of raids and airstrikes
   against  the  local  al-Qaida  group  known as al-Qaida in the Arabian
   Peninsula.  They said one airstrike last week, in the eastern province
   of Shabwa, killed 34 suspected militants.
   Initial  reports  said  the  attack  may  have  killed the head of the
   militant group, Anwar al-Awlaki.  But sources in Yemen say he is still
   alive.
   Somalia  and  Yemen  are  separated by the Gulf of Aden.  Thousands of
   East African migrants cross the water each year, trying to reach Yemen
   and start a better life.
   Al-Shabab  is  the  most  prominent  of  the militant groups trying to
   overthrow the Somali government and set up an Islamic state.
   The  group  controls  much  of southern and central Somalia, including
   large portions of the capital, Mogadishu.
   The  United  States considers al-Shabab a terrorist group, and says it
   has links to al-Qaida.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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