Obama says no plan for US troops in Yemen, Somalia

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WASHINGTON, Jan11 (Reuters): The United States does not plan to send US troops into Yemen or Somalia as those countries struggle to contain Islamic militants, President Barack Obama said in remarks published Sunday. "I have no intention of sending US boots on the ground in these regions," Obama told People magazine, referring to Yemen and Somalia.
"I have every intention of working with our international partners in lawless areas around the globe to make sure that we're keeping the American people safe," Obama added, according to a transcript provided by the magazine.
Obama has said Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen, appears to have trained, equipped and directed the Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a US airliner bound for Detroit on December 25, using explosives sewn into his underwear.
Al Shabaab, an al Qaeda-inspired insurgency, has seized large areas of south and central Somalia, the Horn of Africa nation situated across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen, which is located at the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula.
"We've known throughout this year that al Qaeda in Yemen has become a more serious problem. And, as a consequence, we have partnered with the Yemeni government to go after those terrorist training camps and cells there in a much more deliberate and sustained fashion," Obama said.
"The same is true in Somalia, another country where there are large chunks that are not fully under government control and al Qaeda is trying to take advantage of them," he added.
The United States already has large contingents of ground forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
US officials have said they are looking at ways to expand military and intelligence cooperation with Yemen, the poorest Arab state, to root out al Qaeda leadership in the country.
Islamic militants bombed the USS Cole warship in the Yemeni port of Aden in 2000, killing 17 US sailors.
General David Petraeus, who as head of US Central Command oversees an area stretching from the Horn of Africa to Central Asia, met Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on January 2 in Sanaa. Their talks focused on strengthening security, military and economic cooperation.
Meanwhile: Germany's foreign minister has made an unannounced visit to Yemen, where five German nationals have been held hostage for six months.
Guido Westerwelle will hold talks with President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa. Five Germans, including three children, and a Briton were seized in northern Yemen while picnicking in June.
Mr Westerwelle is the first Western minister to visit Yemen since a local al-Qaeda branch said they tried to bomb a US airliner over Detroit in December.
Last week, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab - the Nigerian man accused of attempting to detonate a bomb on the Amsterdam-Detroit flight on Christmas Day - was charged with the attempted murder of 290 people and five other counts. The plane landed safely after passengers and crew overpowered him.
Mr Westerwelle was expected to raise the issue of the seized hostages during his talks with President Saleh later Monday.
Last week, Yemen's deputy prime minister said the six hostages were still alive, the Associated Press reports.
The hostages were seized while picnicking in the northern Saada region. The kidnapped adults all worked at a local hospital.
Two German nurses and a South Korean aid worker - who were part of the group - were found dead later in June.
The Yemeni government has blamed a local Shia rebel group, led by Abdulmalik al-Houthi, for the kidnapping, but it has denied any involvement.
The group has fought a sporadic insurgency in the Zaidi Shia heartland between Sanaa and the border with Saudi Arabia.