CAIRO Ñ The United States has launched plans to help form Yemen's
first coast guard.
The United States has agreed to train Yemeni officers as well as help
supply equipment for the new force. The systems are said to include advanced
radar and communications.
Yemen's Interior Ministry said the United States has agreed to train the
first contingent of 20 Yemeni officers. Yemen's coast guard is meant to
consist of 2,000 members until 2006.
The announcement last week capped months of negotiations between Sanaa
and Washington over a schedule of training and procurement regarding Yemen's
military and security programs. Military and security cooperation between
the two countries have been hampered by the Al Qaida bombing of the USS Cole
in October 2000 and disputes over the size of and authority of any U.S.
military presence in Yemen.
Last year, Yemen asked for U.S. help to form a coast guard and President
Ali Abdullah
Saleh began discussing the issue in February with U.S. Central Command chief
Gen. Tommy Franks. The coast guard would protect Yemen's 2,400-kilometer
coastline along the Red Sea. Yemen has been a route for Al Qaida and Islamic
insurgents to and from Somalia and Sudan.
Yemeni Interior Minister Rashad Al Ulaimi said the first group of 20
Yemen officers would come from the navy and police. He told the state-owned
September 26 weekly newspaper that the officers would be trained in the use
of
communications systems and radar.
