Yemen says invites int'l monitors to 2009 elections
29 Sep 2008 17:28:30 GMT Source: Reuters
By Haitham Haddadin UNITED NATIONS, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Yemen will allow international monitors to keep an eye on multi-party parliamentary elections early next year to ensure their fairness, the Arab country's foreign minister said on Monday. Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi also told the U.N. General Assembly that international donors should give generous aid to the impoverished Arab country which he said was itself a victim of militant terror attacks. Yemen has said it supports the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but the ancestral home of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is still viewed in the West as a haven for Islamic militants. "The start of 2009 will witness the fourth parliamentary polls in Yemen in which the various political parties will take part," al-Qirbi said in his speech. "We stress here that the Yemeni republic will take all measures in order to guarantee the fairness of the elections and to adhere to international standards and we welcome the participation of international monitors," he added. Yemen is a small oil producer with exports of about 200,000 barrels per day. Despite having one of the slowest economic growth rates in the world, the country is "pressing on in its democratic path," Qirbi said. This "is manifested in political pluralism, freedom of expression and speech, and consolidating the role of civic society institutions and the peaceful sharing of power," the minister added. He said that assaults by al-Qaeda and other radical Islamic militants as well as local rebel tribesmen have cost the country more than $2 billion in economic losses. This month 17 people were killed in twin suicide car bombing at the U.S. embassy -- the largest attack in Yemen since the 2002 bombing of the French supertanker Limburg. Other major al Qaeda attacks in Yemen, where weapons are available widely, include the 2000 bombing of the U.S. destroyer Cole. The latest militant attacks "hindered the implementation of development programs and government efforts to reduce poverty and reflected on citizens' lives," the Yemeni minister said. "So we ask donor countries, international organizations and Yemen's partners in fighting terrorism to provide generous aid for it to boost its development programs and to combat poverty, both important factors in combating terrorism," Qirbi said. "Terrorists take advantage of poverty, need and ignorance to recruit members," the minister added in his speech. Dozens of militants are jailed in Yemen for involvement in bombings of Western targets and clashes with the authorities. (Editing by Jackie Frank)
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