In Yemen, CIA holds talks on Al Qaeda
SAN'A, Yemen - The deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency coordinated with Yemen's president yesterday on fighting Al Qaeda and also discussed the fate of about 100 Yemeni detainees locked up in Guantanamo Bay.
Stephen Kappes met with President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the southern city of Taiz, about 170 miles south of the capital San'a. Saleh's office said they discussed security cooperation and combating terrorism.
The impoverished country has reemerged as a potential base for Al Qaeda, and two Saudis who were former Guantanamo detainees are believed to be leading Yemen's branch of the terrorist group.
President Obama wants to close Guantanamo, a Navy detention center that houses suspected terrorists. But the discussions over where to send Yemeni detainees have delayed plans to close it.
Yemenis are the largest national group among the 241 detainees still at Guantanamo.
Obama's administration has been negotiating with Saudi Arabia and Yemen to send them to Saudi terrorist rehabilitation centers.
