U.S. Military Advisers To Yemen?

Yemen said Friday up to 100 U.S. military advisers were going to the Arab state to train Yemeni forces hunting remnants of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

"Up to 100 American military advisers and trainers are coming to Yemen. Besides training, they are going to advise our military and security forces," a senior Yemeni government official said.

However, Victoria Clarke, spokeswoman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, told reporters at the Pentagon that "as of today," there was not yet a final decision.

"It's very much a work in progress," she said. "The elements of what we do with them (are) to be determined."

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Friday that the White House had approved a mission to send hundreds of troops to train and advise Yemeni forces.

The Yemeni official did not say when the U.S. troops would arrive in Yemen, a poor Arab state that has been trying to shake off its image as a haven for Islamic militants.

"This comes within the context of cooperation between the two countries in several fields including security," an official said.

The Yemen operation was disclosed as the United States also prepared to send Army special forces trainers to the former Soviet republic of Georgia to help train that country's military in battling guerrillas near the Chechen border. The U.S. military also recently sent elite anti-terror trainers to the Philippines in the wake of Sept. 11 attacks on America.

In Iowa, where President Bush was traveling Friday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan refused to say whether the president had made a formal decision to approve U.S. military aid to Yemen.

"If the United States helps Yemen, it will be in the form of equipment and training," he said.

While in Iowa, Mr. Bush commented on the prospect of helping Yemen, but he offered no specifics. He said he had made it clear to Yemeni leaders that "we expect results" against terrorists there.

"And the Yemeni government is responding," Mr. Bush said. "I'm not going to talk about ongoing operations, but I will tell you wherever we find an al Qaeda presence we will work with the government to root them out."

In December, Yemen launched a manhunt for two Yemenis and other suspected members of al Qaeda.

Washington has named bin Laden and al Qaeda as prime suspects in the September attacks on the United States. It also accuses bin Laden of planning the bombing of the U.S. warship Cole in the southern Yemeni port of Aden in 2000.

Washington has been pushing Yemen — birthplace of the father of bin Laden — for greater cooperation on anti-terrorism since 17 American sailors were killed in the October 2000 attack on the Cole.

The Wall Street Journal cited a senior U.S. military official as saying the mission would be similar to the U.S. military effort in the Philippines, where more than 600 U.S. soldiers are involved in anti-terror exercises with local forces.

The newspaper quoted unnamed officials as saying the mission was approved after a month-long debate within the administration of President Bush about the size of the al Qaeda presence in Yemen and how the United States should respond.

As in the Philippines, U.S. soldiers will not be involved in combat missions in Yemen, officials said. Rather, the U.S. soldiers will "train with, assist and advise" troops from Yemen's Republican Guard. The U.S. soldiers also will share intelligence with the Yemeni soldiers.

U.S. intelligence officials also have discussed redeploying unmanned Predator drones now flying over Afghanistan so they can conduct surveillance flights over Yemen, an official said.

The United States is also planning to send U.S. military experts to Georgia to help train Georgian troops to combat terrorism in the lawless Pankisi Gorge.

On Feb. 11, while visiting Yemen, the U.S. commander responsible for American military operations in the Middle East, Gen. Tommy Franks of Central Command, told reporters the United States does not expect to deploy combat troops in Yemen but likely will help train Yemen's military in counter-terrorism.

During that visit, Franks said President Ali Abdullah Saleh had not asked for U.S. combat troops but was interested in military training and assistance in creating a coast guard to help the Yemenis guard their 1,500-mile coastline.

Two of the people Yemen is pursuing, Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal and Ali Qaed Senyan al-Harthi, are suspected of involvement in the Cole bombing and are believed to be under the protection of powerful tribal chiefs.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh Thursday urged the suspects to surrender and warned tribesmen against protecting them.