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Yemen Backs Cheney on Anti-Terror, Differs on Iraq
Thursday, March 14, 2002
(11:08 AM ET)
By Randall Mikkelsen
Reuters

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney (L) turns to Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak during a news conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh March 13, 2002. Mubarak told reporters that Egypt would press Iraq to allow the return of U.N. weapon inspectors.
Image Credit: Reuters.

"The people are understanding the importance (of U.S. help) ...but as to actual combat, there is big opposition," a Yemeni official said. "They don't want America to come in and do the fighting. They're taking it personally and they want to do it themselves."

SANAA, Yemen -- Reuters
Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday won Yemeni support for Washington's drive to prevent the poor Arab country from becoming "another Afghanistan" and to stop al Qaeda forces regrouping there.

But Yemen told Cheney it opposed any U.S. military action against fellow Arab nation Iraq for fear it would undermine regional stability, said an adviser to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

"We don't want more oil on the fire," the adviser told reporters. "We need to solve the Palestinian question."

Cheney later arrived in Oman's port city of Salalah where he was expected to hold talks with Sultan Qaboos bin Said on Thursday evening. The Gulf Arab state is the fourth station on Cheney's 11-nation Middle East tour.

Violence between Israelis and Palestinians has overshadowed Cheney's tour, as Israel this week launched its biggest military offensive in Palestinian areas for decades. It said on Thursday it would gradually withdraw from the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Cheney held two hours of talks with Saleh, including a 30-minute private session, after arriving on a U.S. military transport plane amid extensive security precautions.
(More: iWon.com News Source)
2002 © Reuters, Ltd.

Dan