September 19, 2002	Thursday	Rajab 11, 1423

WASHINGTON, Sept 18: The US military and Central Intelligence Agency are preparing a large-scale covert operation in Yemen aimed at neutralizing what they believe to be a growing number of al-Qaeda fighters there, ABC News reported Tuesday.

Pentagon and CIA officials had no immediate comment on the report, which noted that the USS Belleau Wood, an amphibious assault ship with ample special operations helicopter facilities, was off the Yemeni coast.

The ship, said ABC, quoting sources, would be used as “a floating base for a special operations strike force that has now been assembled in the nearby nation of Djibouti.

According to the ABC report, the US presence in Djibouti is concealed within a large French military base there.

The network quoted its sources as saying more than 800 US troops and a dozen specialized helicopters are in Djibouti, including a contingent of the anti-terrorist Delta Force commando group.

The United States has been increasingly concerned that Yemen is becoming a safe haven for al-Qaeda fighters on the run since being driven out of Afghanistan.

Yemen is the ancestral home of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who has claimed responsibility for the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Yemeni authorities still harbor concerns about allowing US forces to go after anyone in their country, but are secretly negotiating with Washington, ABC reported.—AFP