President Saleh: Yemen’s many things in common with UK, US

LONDON,(Saba)- President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Friday Yemen has many things in common with the United Kingdom of Britain and the United States of America, notably when it comes to fighting terrorism. In a press conference before leaving the United Kingdom where he has been in an official three-day visit, President Saleh said “Yemen is in consistency with the United Kingdom in many realms especially the anti-terror war” and that the UK and the US give Yemen vital assistance in this direction. Saleh recalled Yemen’s unique way of “restricting terrorism” in reference to the “theological dialogue” pioneered by cleric Judge Hamoud al-Hitar. The reeducation of militants, he averred, worked better that detentions. The President called on the United Kingdom to press Israel for returning to negotiations, improving jail conditions of Palestinian prisoners and regarding them as POWs. President Saleh said that he addressed the Iraqi issue with top officials of the British Government. He regretted that British authorities, on the U.S. warrant, arrested the radical cleric Abu Hamzah al-Masri to extradite him to the US while an earlier request of his extradition to Yemen has been ignored. “We have expressed to the British officials (our regret) that our demand of his extradition, prior to September 11 and the U.S. demands, was ignored.” He said the Egyptian-born radical cleric is responsible for masterminding terrorism acts in Abyan and disrupting the process of development in the country. “I guess they will hand him over to the United States, the superpower, but not to the impoverished developing country (of Yemen),” Saleh protested. He made it clear that “this the way things go in today’s world”. AA/NSSABA