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WikiLeaks: Yemen covered up US drone strikes

The Yemeni government covered up US drone strikes against al-Qaeda there and claimed the bombs were its own, according to the WikiLeaks documents.

The Yemeni government covered up US drone strikes against al-Qaeda there and claimed the bombs were its own, according to the WikiLeaks documents.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh told Gen David Petraeus, then commander of US forces in the Middle East, that: 'We'll continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours' Credit: Photo: AP

Amid public distrust of the US in Yemen, officials in both countries have stated publicly that the Yemeni government is leading the fight against Islamist militants.

On Nov 16, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said providing equipment and training to Yemeni security forces was the best way to counter the threat posed by jihadists.

But, according to a leaked document from January, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh told Gen David Petraeus, then commander of US forces in the Middle East, that: "We'll continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours." The conversation was reported in a diplomatic cable sent back to Washington by a US diplomat in Yemen.

Its details were published today by the New York Times.

According to the cable, the president's remark prompted Yemen's deputy prime minister to "joke that he had just 'lied' by telling Parliament" that Yemeni forces were responsible for strikes carried out by the US.

Mr Saleh, who rules a conservative Muslim country, was also said to have joked that he was not concerned about whiskey smuggling from Djibouti "provided it's good whiskey".