President receives US counterterrorism official

RIYADH, July 10 (Saba)- President Ali Abdullah Saleh met on Sunday at the Saudi military hospital in Riyadh John Brennan, US Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. During the meeting, the US official handed over a letter to the President from his US counterpart Barack Obama. Obama expressed, in his letter, happiness over Saleh’s health improvement, wishing him good health and wellness. The US president condemned the terrorist and criminal incident which targeted President Saleh and a number of senior state officials as they were performing the Friday noon prayer on 03 June at the mosque of the presidential palace. He also said that this criminal incident was not targeting the president only, but also the Yemeni people, adding that who was behind the incident should be held accountable and brought to justice. President Obama affirmed his country’s support to Yemen’s unity, security and stability and its readiness to assist Yemen in the fields of economy and development as well as Yemen’s efforts in the fight against terrorism. In his turn, President Saleh thanked President Obama for his good and sincere feelings and for the US support to Yemen’s unity, security and stability. He confirmed that Yemen needs to be supported and assisted to promote economic and development fields so as to reduce poverty and unemployment, which represent a fertile environment of terrorism. Saleh pointed out that Yemen has made considerable progress in the fight against terrorism. He praised efforts made by the Gulf Cooperation Council led by Saudi Arabia, as well as the United States and the European Union in addressing the political crisis in Yemen, pointing out that a peaceful transfer of power in Yemen must be within the framework of democracy and the constitution. The President said that the GCC initiative and the statement of the United Nations represent the ground to get out of the current crisis through a national dialogue involving all political parties. Saba