US fears Yemen next staging ground for al-Qaida

By LOLITA C. BALDOR

WASHINGTON — American authorities are pressuring Yemen to counter a rising internal al-Qaida threat more aggressively and improve intelligence-sharing amid growing worries that the country could become the next significant terrorist staging ground.

As insurgent attacks have spiked in the embattled Middle East nation over the past year, the U.S. has bolstered counterterrorism training there, including efforts to shore up Yemen's borders and combat terror financing and arms trafficking.

Al-Qaida's increased strength at organizing and training new recruits in Yemen's vast ungoverned spaces has also led the U.S. to consider boosting financial aid and sales of military equipment to Yemen's government.

Shari Villarosa, senior State Department counterterrorism adviser, said that the security situation in Yemen has "deteriorated significantly" and that the Yemeni government's political will to battle al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations has shifted at times.

"The U.S. wants to help Yemen because we do not want to see Yemen become another Afghanistan where al-Qaida can train, plan and execute terrorist actions against us," Villarosa said. ....