WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- The White House on Tuesday said President Bush was happy with Yemen's cooperation in the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
Bush was expected to meet with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the Oval Office later Tuesday. Saleh also has a meeting planned with Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The White House said the two leaders would discuss the international campaign against terrorism, as well as bilateral and regional issues such as trade.
Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said Yemen had cooperated in the investigation of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington as well as the bombing of the USS Cole, an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer, last year during a refueling stop there.
Yemen sits in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, bordering Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, Oman to the east and the Arabian Sea to the south. It was in Yemen's port of Aden that the USS Cole was attacked on Oct. 12, 2000, with an explosives-laden boat. Seventeen sailors were killed and 39 others were injured.
Washington has blamed both attacks on Saudi exile Osama bin Laden and his al Qaida network.
On Oct. 7, nearly a year after the attack on the USS Cole, the United States launched attacks against Afghanistan in response to the assaults on New York and Washington that killed more than 3,000 people.
Yemeni and American law enforcement officials investigated the case in tandem, recently agreeing to delay the trial in the USS Cole bombing until additional evidence can be obtained.
