Yemen is hunting down about 400 Al-Qaeda suspects and the figure includes Yemenis and Saudis operating according to murderous, sabotage and destructive plots in some areas of the country, Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al Qirbi said on Saturday.
In an interview with Al-Hayat Newspaper, the minister said, despite the recent terror operations, we can describe the situation in the country as stable because the security authorities are tracking all suspects and criminal gangs, killing, wounding and arresting many of them.
The situation here is not more dangerous than in any other countries where Al-Qaeda members are in large numbers, including GCC and European countries, he said.
Unfortunately, media is exaggerating about Al-Qaeda and the situation in Yemen as some are trying to picture Al-Qaeda as a factor destabilizing the country and hampering security, trade and economic processes, he said.
"This is untrue, and Al-Qaeda is operating here like it does in other Arab and western countries."
Moreover, the Yemeni-Saudi security coordination and cooperation and specially on tackling Al-Qaeda is perfect and it has resulted in blows to Al-Qaeda several times, he said, as he noted that the presence of foreign troops on Yemen's soil is not the suitable solution to root out terrorists.
In this regard, he reiterated that the fight on terror in Yemen is the responsibility of the government and Yemeni people.
Speaking about hosting the 20th Gulf Football Cup, Al-Qirbi said Yemen is determined to host this championship and it assures all Gulf countries the situation is stable and Yemen can secure it.
His final remark was given on the same day when Prime Minister Mujawar said the GCC countries has already approved that the championship would be held in Yemen as scheduled.
Meanwhile, hundreds of troops and tribesmen are now combing mountainous and rugged areas in southeastern province of Shabwa in search of Al-Qaeda operatives.
The combing operation is being implemented at very rugged territories where Al-Qaeda tried to use the geographic structure to hide and plan murderous attacks.