Sanaa, January 21: Yemen announced on Thursday that it would stop granting entry visas to travellers at the country’s international airports in order to “halt terrorist infiltration,” the Saba state news agency reported.
The measure comes as pressure mounts on Yemen to crack down on Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which is entrenched in mountain redoubts east of the capital.
“Yemen has stopped granting visas at the airport to halt terrorist infiltration,” Saba said.
Separately, a military official said that “in light of this decision, granting visas to foreigners will take place only through the embassies of Yemen, and after consulting security authorities to verify the identities of travellers.”
This is to “prevent the infiltration of any suspected terrorist elements,” he was quoted by the defence ministry newspaper September 26 as saying.
Six airports in Yemen receive international flights.
There was no immediate explanation as to who might be the target of the new measure, but until now very few nationalities were required to apply for visas in advance of travelling.
In Washington on Wednesday, top US officials told lawmakers that Yemen’s leaders had made “a decisive turn” against Al-Qaeda.
“In terms of the government of Yemen’s determination and willingness to confront a threat of Al-Qaeda militants in the country, we should be and we are encouraged by recent steps the government has taken,” said Jeffrey Feltman, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs..
The US State Department’s top counter-terrorism official, Daniel Benjamin, before the Senate committee, praised “a decisive turn by the Yemeni government and a decisive interest by the international community” to help the Sanaa government.
—Agencies