WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama was meeting his Yemeni counterpart yesterday against a backdrop of drone strikes and the unresolved fate of Yemeni prisoners at Guantanamo.
Obama’s Oval Office meeting with President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi came hours after a deadly US drone strike in Yemen, where Washington has been deeply involved in a campaign against
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
The bilateral meeting began at 1945 GMT and was expected to conclude with remarks to reporters. Obama looks forward to discussing “US efforts to enhance democratic governance and support economic development in Yemen, further strengthen our counter-terrorism partnership, and enable the return of Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo Bay who have been designated for transfer,” the White House said.
The visit, Hadi’s second to the White House in less than a year, comes after Obama announced a decision to lift a moratorium on the release of Yemenis held in the Cuba-based prison set up in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Obama imposed the moratorium after a foiled attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound passenger plane on Christmas Day 2009 was traced back to AQAP in Yemen. But on May 23, he announced he would lift it, saying the dossiers of the 56 Yemenis who have previously been cleared for transfer would be examined on a case-by-case basis.
However White House spokesman Jay Carney said he did not expect any announcements on the fate of Yemeni detainees yesterday. “...while I’m sure that will be a subject of discussion between the two presidents, it will not result in any announcements today,” Carney said. Hadi assumed power in February 2012 after an 11-month-long Arab Spring-inspired revolt toppled autocrat Ali Abdullah Saleh. AFP
