US intelligence official visits Yemen for counter-terrorism talks

May 28, 2009, 17:48 GMT

Sana'a, Yemen - Deputy Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, Stephen R. Kappes, held talks Thursday with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on cooperation in the fight against terrorism, Yemen's state news agency reported.

The agency said the talks dealt with 'aspects of bilateral relations between Yemen and the United States, including the cooperation in security field and combatting terrorism.'

It said the visiting Kappes met with Saleh in the southern Yemeni city of Taiz.

Kappes 'hailed Yemen's efforts in fighting terrorism,' and promised more support to Yemen to enhance its anti-terrorism capabilities, the agency said.

The US official's visit comes as Yemeni and US authorities are stalled on the fate of Yemeni detainees at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Hundreds of prisoners have been released from the Guantanamo prison since it was set up in 2002, but only 14 of them were from Yemen.

Around 100 Yemenis are now locked at the controversial prison without charge, making them the largest single group among the 241 prisoners remaining at Guantanamo.

In January, Saleh said his country had rejected a US proposal to send 94 Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo Saudi Arabia, where they could be sent through a rehabilitation programme.

He said his government would build a rehabilitation centre, where the returnees would be re-educated to shun extremism and fanaticism.

On Tuesday, dozens of relatives of Yemeni detainees held in Guantanamo protested outside the Cabinet's headquarters during its weekly meeting in Sanaa urging the government to step up efforts to secure their release.