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US helping Yemen fight Qaeda, shuns talking to group

by (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. Click For Restrictions. http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Monday, 11 October 2010 03:53 GMT

SANAA, Oct 11 (Reuters) - The United States is helping Yemen in its fight against al Qaeda but would not support negotiations with the militants, the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to Yemen said on Monday.

Yemen&${esc.hash}39;s President Ali Abdullah Saleh said earlier this year that he would engage in dialogue with al Qaeda&${esc.hash}39;s regional wing if the militant group laid down its arms.

"From our side, we don&${esc.hash}39;t think there is a possibility to change their ideas or to stop their operations," Gerald Feierstein said at a news conference in Sanaa.

The United States stepped up its operations against al Qaeda&${esc.hash}39;s Yemen-based wing after a failed bomb attempt on a Detroit-bound plane in December. The group has responded by increasing its activity.

A missile was fired at a British diplomat&${esc.hash}39;s car in Sanaa on Monday, in a possible echo of an attempt by an al Qaeda suicide bomber to kill the British ambassador in April.

Feierstein said Washington had given ${esc.dollar}300 million in aid to Yemen so far this year and that next year the same amount would be donated.

Half of that sum would be spent on supporting the Yemeni economy, while the other half would go to security, he said.

Asked if the United States had carried our air strikes on militant targets on Yemeni territory, Feierstein said: "The United States is committed to build up Yemen&${esc.hash}39;s military and security capabilities and is committed to helping the Yemeni government overcome al Qaeda with the aim of removing the threats posed by the group." The Yemeni foreign minister has been quoted as confirming that the United States had carried out air strikes in Yemen.

(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari, Writing by Raissa Kasolowsky; editing by Ralph Boulton)

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