Yemen will not allow any foreign troops on its territory to fight al-Qaeda, a government official source said in remarks published on Thursday.
“Yemen has never and will never accept any foreign troops on its territories,” the source said, quoted by the Defence Ministry’s weekly newspaper, the 26 September.
The remarks come a week ahead of an international conference on Yemen due to be held in London on January 27. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for the meeting to discuss how to counter radicalization and the al-Qaeda threat in Yemen.
The Yemeni source said that “fighting terrorism is a Yemeni interest in the first instance.” He said the Arab country “will continue its unabated open war against the terrorist elements and outlaws and it is capable of pursuing those terrorist elements,” the unnamed source said.
The source also said Yemen “will not accept any terrorist on its soil” and that the country “will not become a safe haven for terrorists.” Yemeni Prime Minister Ali Mujawar will represent Yemen in the gathering that will bring together representatives from governments of 21 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Arab Gulf, Russia, Germany, Spain, France, Canada, Italy and the Netherlands.
