Yemeni forces clashed with Shiite rebels, killing 11 in a country where Washington fears Al-Qaeda may be gaining a stronger foothold, and Yemen's president reiterated a call to rebels to end the violence. “Eleven terrorists were killed and others were wounded in widespread combing operations and strikes by military and security units Thursday against gatherings of terrorists in a number of areas,” a government source told Reuters Friday. The 26 September news website, quoting an unnamed source, said Yemeni forces had destroyed a “terrorist den” in the northern Saada region Thursday. Rebels from the minority Shiite Zaidi sect in northern Yemen rebelled against the government in 2004. Thursday's strikes destroyed a group of rebel vehicles near the town of Saada, and flames were seen rising from the area, the website said. A car carrying ammunition was destroyed. The government source said several of the rebels were killed by sniper fire and others died when a bomb exploded prematurely. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in a New Year message published in a government newspaper, called on northern rebels and southern separatists to abandon violence and urged anyone tempted by Al-Qaeda to reconsider. “The time has come to lay down your weapons, to steer clear of the violence and the terror and evil acts so as to save your souls and be good citizens in your society,” Saleh wrote in Al-Thawra. He also called again on northern rebels to accept a ceasefire, release prisoners, return stolen civilian and military materials and agree to stop attacks on Saudi territory. “If these elements accept the call for peace, the state will extend its hand for peace,” Saleh said.Somali rebels to send fighters to YemenSomalia's hard-line Shebab insurgents Friday said they will send fighters to Yemen to help an Al-Qaeda affiliate behind the failed Christmas Day jetliner bombing in its fight against government forces. Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansour, a senior official of the Shebab militia that pledges allegiance to Al-Qaeda, announced the plan as he presented hundreds of newly-trained fighters in the north of Mogadishu. “We tell our Muslim brothers in Yemen that we will cross the water between us and reach your place to assist you fight the enemy of Allah,” said Robow, to chants of “Allahu Akbar”, or Allah is Greatest, by the young fighters. “Today you see what is happening in Yemen, the enemy of Allah is destroying your Muslim brothers,” he added. “I call upon the young men in Arab lands to join the fight there.”Brown calls meeting on YemenBritish Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for a high-level international meeting on Jan. 28 to devise ways to counter radicalization in Yemen. He says the meeting would be held at the same time as a planned international conference on Afghanistan to be held in London. Brown says an international approach is needed to combat the rising influence of Al-Qaeda in Yemen. The terror group has claimed responsibility for the thwarted bombing of a plane bound for Detroit. He said Friday he hopes the meeting will coordinate donor efforts to help the government of Yemen and identify counterterrorism needs there.
