DJIBOUTI, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- The fight against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the network operating in Yemen, is a "work in progress," a U.S. envoy said at a regional defense forum.
Geeta Pasi, U.S. envoy to Djibouti, delivered an address Monday at a regional counter-terrorism forum. Al-Qaida and its affiliates in the Middle East and North Africa, she said, are the "pre-eminent" security threats for the United States.
"We need to take on violent extremist ideology and diminish its appeal," she said during her address.
The United States and several of its Western allies closed their Middle East and North African embassies briefly last year in response to terrorist threats emanating from Yemen.
"In Yemen, the fight against AQAP is a work in progress," Pasi said.
She praised Yemen for taking steps to ensure a state of national security, but recognized help was coming in from members of the international community.
"Yemen illustrates the value of a comprehensive approach to countering terrorism," she said.
At least two threats against the United States, the Fort Hood shooting and the foiled Christmas Day bombing plot in Detroit, both in 2009, were tied to AQAP.
U.S. President Barack Obama said during last week's State of the Union address the "core leadership" of al-Qaida was nearly defeated, but the general threat from al-Qaida "has evolved."
