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.
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