madam president i have a short comment and two questions to put to baroness ashton
it seems that the eu is now faced with a dilemma
on the one hand we need to support more robust action against terrorists who directly pose a danger to the security of european citizens
various islamist extremist groups in yemen have been more active than ever before and al-qaeda sees yemen as one of its most important areas to plan attacks on western targets and to train militia and potential suicide bombers
the failed operation against the northwest airlines plane is the most recent example of the threat we face
on the other hand one should know that the yemeni authorities have more than once been accused by various human rights organisations of torture inhumane treatment and extrajudicial executions
arbitrary arrests of citizens and searches of homes are widespread and the need to fight terrorism has been cited as the main excuse for such unlawful actions
in this context baroness ashton referring to the council conclusions on yemen what kind of support has the eu to offer to yemen in terms of fighting terrorism
in addition the eu considers that there is no military solution for the crisis in the area
at the same time washington has signed the agreement with the yemeni authorities on closer military cooperation
so i would appreciate your opinion and the position of the european union on the decision by the americans to engage more actively in yemen to fight terrorists especially by signing the agreement on military intelligence and training
