Yemeni security personnel to train in America

SAN'A, Yemen -- Yemeni security officers will be trained in the United States to improve counterterrorism efforts in their homeland, which has seen a rash of attacks linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, the U.S. Embassy announced.

In a statement posted on the embassy Web site Wednesday, it said the Defense Department would train as many as nine Yemeni officers.

It was not clear when the officers would travel to America or how long the training would last.

Yemen has been on the front line in the U.S.-led war on terrorism and its government signed on as Washington's partner after the Sept. 11 attacks. But anti-American sentiment has been running high over Washington's perceived support for Israel and the standoff with Iraq.

Three U.S. Christian missionaries who worked at a Baptist-run hospital in Yemen were shot dead Dec. 30 by a suspected Islamic militant. In 2000, an explosive-laden boat rammed the USS Cole off Yemen, killing 17 U.S. sailors.

In November, a CIA-operated Predator drone fired a missile that killed bin Laden's top lieutenant in Yemen, Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, and five other suspected members of the terror group.