SANAA, 6 March 2004 — Yemen said yesterday it would hold joint military exercises with Saudi Arabia in the next few months. Col. Ahmad Ali Abdullah Saleh, commander of the Republican Guards forces, said in press remarks that discussions on the maneuvers with Riyadh were under way.

He told the state-run Ath-Thawra daily that the two countries would stage “joint military exercises to be participated in by units from the Yemeni Republican Guards and military forces and the Saudi National Guards and armed forces.”

The exercises, the two countries’ first joint military maneuver, are expected to be held “within the next few months,” Saleh said.

Saleh, the oldest son of Yemen’s president, said the planned exercises would aid the development of ties between the two nations.

Meanwhile, a French cultural center and a school here reopened for business with beefed up security five days after being closed for security fears, a French diplomat said. The diplomat, who requested anonymity, said the cultural center resumed all services after it was shut Friday following reports of unspecified security concerns.