U.S. avoids Yemen's internal conflicts

WASHINGTON, April 2 (UPI) -- The United States doesn't want to get bogged down by the internal conflicts simmering in strife-torn Yemen, a White House official said.

Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi won a one-man presidential election in Yemen in February. His election followed a decision by long-time President Ali Abdullah Saleh to sign a deal in late 2011 to step down following nearly a year of protests in Yemen.

Some political figures in Yemen threatened to join the southern secessionist movement after Hadi's victory, however. The U.N. Security Council last week called on Yemeni authorities to settle their differences and prepare for general election in 2014.

The CIA is suspected of conducting air raids over Yemen as part of an effort to combat al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. A senior White House official told the Los Angeles Times on condition of anonymity that Washington wasn't keen on getting involved in Yemen's "internal battles."

The statement followed a meeting between Yemeni Minister of Information Ahmed Ali al-Amrani and Daniel Benjamin, a U.S. State Department coordinator for counter-terrorism issues.

Amrani told Benjamin that al-Qaida was threatening regional peace and stability, Yemen's official Saba news agency reports.

The International Crisis Group, in a monthly report, stated violence on the country's south had "increased significantly" since early March.