SANAA, 20 February 2005 — Yemen’s president has fired the head of the new US-trained coast guard unit in the southern port city of Aden over charges of administrative corruption, local officials said yesterday.
During a visit to Aden last week, President Ali Abdullah Saleh sacked Saleh Al-Maqalih and two other senior officials in the unit, said the officials on condition of anonymity.
Al-Maqalih had allegedly not lived up to his responsibilities or helped advance the coast guard unit, the officials said. Al-Maqalih and the two other officials dismissed also reportedly used their positions for profiteering and smuggling diesel.
The president ordered an investigation into the matter, the officials said.
US Embassy officials in Yemen were not available for comment yesterday.
The coast guard unit was established in cooperation with the United States, which trained and funded the unit in an effort to secure Yemen’s long marine frontier.
In October 2000, 17 American soldiers were killed when two suicide bombers rammed an explosives-laden boat into the USS Cole destroyer as it refueled in Aden. Two years later, a French oil tanker was also bombed, killing a Bulgarian crew member and spilling 90,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Aden.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Yemeni government cracked down on militant groups and aligned itself with the US-led war on terror. It has received US military aid, such as anti-terror training for its soldiers.
