Global General

Yemen ready to secure Gulf Cup amid al-Qaida fears

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-26 16:13

SANAA - Yemeni Interior Ministry said its security plans to secure the 20th Gulf Cup football championship, scheduled to be held in the southern port city of Aden from Nov 22 to Dec 4, have been ready and will be put into action as of Sunday.

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"The Higher Security Committee of the Interior Ministry put plans designed to secure the forthcoming 20th Gulf Cup football championship into action as of Sunday after they have become totally ready," a statement posted on the ministry's news website said.

On Aug 4, a senior official of the Interior Ministry said the ministry recruited 500 high-school graduates from southern provinces to prepare them to secure the Arab regional football championship.

"The 500 news soldiers are undergoing a high-level security and anti-terrorism training program," the official said.

"The thing that concerns us and our neighboring Gulf countries the most are al-Qaida," he told Xinhua on condition of anonymity, adding "we are not fearing any possible riots from the southern separatists, but a small attack by al-Qaida will be a disaster on the tournament."

The participating nations of the championship include the six Arab Gulf states as well as Iraq and the host Yemen.

Yemen is facing growing troubles in its south part from al- Qaida regional wing since late last year, as well as southern separatist groups which seek to secede the south from the north since 2007 after 20 years of union.