SANAA, Yemen, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh hailed his country's cooperation with the U.S. in combating terrorism, but denied he is a U.S. collaborator.
"We are not allies of America or collaborators, but we cooperate with the Americans within the framework of the international community in order to combat the world's evil, terrorism," Saleh said in an interview with Beirut's daily As-Safir Thursday.
He stressed that Yemen "did not give the Americans any military bases, or airports or ports" in return for U.S. assistance in training the military as well as development aid worth more than $100 million.
"Even if the Americans gave us no assistance, we would have cooperated with them in combating terrorism," Saleh said.
The Yemeni president then deplored what he called "U.S. bias" toward Israel and the Americans' double standards when it comes to implementing international resolutions.
Commenting on the situation in Iraq, Saleh said, "It is an ill and occupied country," and reiterated his country's opposition to deploying troops in Iraq as long as the U.S.-led occupation persisted.
"We will not participate in any force helping the occupiers ... If occupation ends and if the Iraqi people demand the deployment of Muslim and Arab forces under the umbrella of the United Nations or the Arab League, we will be ready to send troops," Saleh said.
