Yemen won't allow foreign operations on its soil

A police trooper holds a machinegun on a police vehicle outside the state security court in Sanaa January 26, 2010.

LONDON (Reuters) - Yemen needs logistical support to help fight al Qaeda but will not allow foreign covert operations against the global militant group on its territory, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi told the BBC.

The government in Sanaa declared open war on al Qaeda this month, stepping up air strikes and security sweeps after a regional arm of the militant group based in Yemen said they were behind a failed December 25 bid to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner.

But in the interview, Qirbi ruled out allowing a U.S. military base on Yemeni soil or covert foreign operations in the country.

"We will undertake it ourselves. Why do we need outside soldiers to fight when we can do the fight ourselves?" said Qirbi in the interview broadcast on Tuesday.

He said the government had mistakenly allowed foreign intervention in 2002, when a U.S. missile strike killed an al Qaeda leader suspected of planning the 2000 suicide bombing of the U.S. warship Cole.

"It proved to be a terrible mistake, and this is why we don't want to repeat it. We have to do it ourselves and anybody who is interested will have to support us," Qirbi said.

U.S. defense and counter-terrorism officials say Washington has been quietly supplying military equipment, intelligence and training to Yemen to destroy suspected al Qaeda hide-outs.

Qirbi rejected any suggestion that the government had allowed al Qaeda to flourish in the country by refusing to confront militants in the past. "Yemen has always tackled al Qaeda. But it doesn't mean because there was a period of no confrontation that it hasn't been battling al Qaeda, because we've been battling it through dialogue and through many different means," he said.

He praised a Saudi programme that involves counseling and reintegrating militants into society -- an idea that Yemen pioneered, but now says it lacks the resources to pursue.

Yemen's government has previously talked of dialogue with al Qaeda on condition that militants lay down their weapons first.

(Reporting by Thomas Atkins in Riyadh; Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Alistair Lyon and Noah Barkin)