Yemen's president offers dialogue to al Qaeda militants

PanARMENIAN.Net - Yemen's president offered dialogue to Islamist militants including al Qaeda on Wednesday, September 26 but said they must agree first to put down weapons and reject support from abroad, according to Reuters.

Restoring stability to Yemen has become an international priority given fears that jihadi fighters could entrench themselves in a country and threaten world No. 1 oil exporter Saudi Arabia next door and important world shipping lanes.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and other Sunni Muslim militant groups including Ansar al-Sharia gained ground last year during a popular uprising that forced out veteran autocratic president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been seen by Washington as its best ally in containing militants.

Since replacing Saleh in February, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has waged an army offensive to oust such groups from areas of Abyan province in south Yemen while the United States has stepped up a campaign of missile strikes on them.

"I always say that, despite the blood that has been spilled, homes destroyed and people displaced, it is possible to open a dialogue," Hadi said in a speech broadcast on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Yemeni republic.

"But (this is) on condition that al Qaeda announces its agreement to cast aside its weapons, repent of its extremist ideas that are far from Islam, and give up protecting armed elements from outside the country."