Arab News

PARIS, 28 June 2003 — French President Jacques Chirac held talks here yesterday with his Yemeni counterpart Ali Abdullah Saleh, with the global fight against terrorism dominating the meeting, aides to the French leader said.

“France encourages the efforts of the Yemeni authorities in this struggle, which requires action without respite,” aides to Chirac said, adding that he had stressed the importance of Yemen’s role in maintaining regional stability. Following the talks and a working lunch, Saleh told reporters: “Terrorism is a scourge that harms the interests of large and small countries alike.”

Yemen, the ancestral home of Osama Bin Laden, is seen as a key recruiting ground for his Al-Qaeda network. The Yemeni government has rounded up dozen of suspected Al-Qaeda members in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, but many have since been released due to lack of evidence. Last October, a French tanker was the target of a deadly attack off Yemen’s southeastern coast. An explosion ripped through the ship, killing one Bulgarian crew member and injuring 12 others.

The two presidents also discussed the Middle East peace process, events in the Horn of Africa, the situation in Iraq and bilateral relations. Noting the volatile security situation that has reigned in Iraq since US-led forces toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein, Saleh said he regretted the killings of both Iraqi civilians and coalition troops.

“These are incidents that we cannot accept,” he told reporters.

“We hope that the coalition forces will be able to restore security and rebuild that which war destroyed.”