ITALY OFFERS TO BACK FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM IN YEMEN

ROME, May 11 (Saba) - Italy offered on Tuesday greater support to Yemen in its struggle to fight terrorism. Italian Foreign affairs minister Franco Frattini made the announcement at a media conference after meeting Foreign Minister Abu Baker al-Qirbi in Rome.

Frattini also foreshadowed a ministerial conference which will gather member states that make up Friends of Yemen to be held in Riyadh in a few months.

Friends of Yemen emerged from an Italian government initiative reaffirmed that Yemen plays a "key role" in the region in the fight against terrorism, regional stabilisation and cooperation in the Persian Gulf.

"We will be working to bring concrete proposals on what to do, "Frattini said. "We want to help Yemen not on the basis of decisions made in Rome but in complete respect for its sovereignty and based on what Yemen requests itself."