Obama thanks Yemeni president over security effort

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday greeted and thanked his Yemeni counterpart Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi over efforts to secure American embassy and personnel in the Arab country.

Obama dropped by a meeting between John Brennan, his assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism, and Hadi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, a senior White House official said.

"President Obama stopped by that meeting to say hello to President Hadi of Yemen and to thank him for the steps he's taken to secure our embassy and our diplomats in that country," Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor for strategic communications, told reporters aboard Air Force One as the president was returning to Washington.

U.S. embassy in Sanaa, the capital city of Yemen, came under attack about two weeks ago as protesters took to the streets over a U.S.-made film that denigrates Prophet Mohammed.

The Obama administration has sent a 50-strong Marines unit to boost the security of American embassy in Sanaa, as it did in Libya, where U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three of his staff were killed in an attack on Sept. 11.

Obama had no one-on-one meetings with foreign leaders during his 24-hour stay in New York, as he was focusing on his campaign for reelection in the Nov. 6 election.

Washington is helping Yemeni government forces fight the al- Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as the country is still in the process of a political transition. Enditem

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)