Hull Denies Any Possible Strike Against Yemen [Archives:2001/41/Front Page]
Mr. Edmund J. Hull, the new American Ambassador to Yemen, held a town meeting for American citizens at the US Embassy on October 3rd. The meeting was attended by 120 American citizens, most being Yemeni-Americans. The intention of the meeting was to introduce the ambassador to the American community as well as to discuss the security situation in light of the September 11th terrorist attacks in the US.
According to a press release by the embassy, the ambassador said that in the war against terrorism, Yemen is a partner and not a target of possible strikes by the US military.
The release also said that Ambassador Hull urges American citizens to be cautious and to exercise good personal security, while expressing his gratitude to the Yemeni government for doing its utmost to protect Americans in Yemen. The American citizens agreed with the ambassador that the September 11 attacks in the US, and the attack against the USS Cole in Aden last October, hurt both the USA and Yemen. The American citizens expressed their condolences with families of the victims in New York and Washington, and expressed their support for the US and its leadership in the international effort to eradicate terrorism.
Ambassador Hull presented his credentials to president Ali Abdullah Saleh last Monday. Prior to joining his new post as ambassador to Yemen, Ambassador Hull was acting as the coordinator of Counter-Terrorism Department for the US Department of State.
The Central Bank of Yemen, in its cooperation with the international effort, informed all banks working in Yemen to closely scrutinize their accounts. The objective is to find possible bank accounts belonging to associations or persons with connection to Usama Bin Laden, America’s prime suspect in the attack. On the condition of anonymity, banking sources told YT that the investigations carried out so far have not been fruitful, but also confirming that the process of scrutinizing bank accounts will continue. They said this procedure was one of the demands the US Administration requested Yemen to fulfill in its cooperation with the world wide fight against terrorism.
On a similar note, last Tuesday, the Yemeni Cabinet endorsed three international treaties relating to countering the financial supply of plastic explosives and nuclear materials. The cabinet authorized the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to sign the treaties after they were ratified by the Parliament and the Council.
At the same time, it is expected that the Yemeni religious scholars will reach a final statement concerning Yemen’s position towards the anti-terrorism coalition. However, there are still disagreements concerning some of the content of the statement due to political taboos.
——
[archive-e:41-v:2001-y:2001-d:2001-10-08-p:./2001/iss41/front.htm]