U.S. Facing Loss of Key Ally Against Al-Qaeda Group in Yemen
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President Barack Obama is on the verge of losing a key ally in the fight against al-Qaeda, as Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh attempted today to set conditions for quitting in the face of a popular uprising and defections among his ruling elite.
“It’s clear at this point that Saleh will have to step down,” Barbara Bodine, a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen, said in an interview yesterday. With the “mounting numbers of senior people in his administration resigning, we know it’s over. The terms of his departure, I think, are still being negotiated.”