Yemen represses protests; US promises military aid

In the Yemeni capital Sana’a, protesters marched for a fourth consecutive day Feb. 14, demanding the removal of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. They faced attacks by government supporters wielding broken bottles, daggers and rocks. Police were unable to control the crowds in Taiz, where thousands of protesters had held an all-night rally. (The Guardian, Feb. 14)

The US aims to spend $75 million to double the size of a special Yemeni counter-terrorism unit this year to raise the pressure on al-Qaeda‘s local affiliate. Michael Leiter, head of the National Counterterrorism Center, told Congress last week that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is the biggest current threat to the US homeland. (Reuters, Feb. 14)

See our last posts on Yemen and the new Middle East revolutions.

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