Yemeni president links normalization with Israel to achieving peace

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has considered the "handshake" incident with the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Yehuda Lancry, on Friday in New York at a luncheon banquet held by the peace and economic cooperation center for the Middle East as an attempt by the Israeli ambassador "to snipe him."

In an interview with the London-based al-Hayat daily issued on Sunday, President Saleh stated, "I was surprised that the luncheon banquet pictured us as if we are in a state of normalization with Israel, which is not true."

He added what happened of "provocation and regret will not have negative effect, rather I have conveyed the message I want to the Israelis in that the problem is not with Israel. The problem is with Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories and the establishment of a just and comprehensive peace in the region."

The Yemeni president added that if just and comprehensive peace is maintained there will be no problem with Israel, and then dialogue with Israel can be made within the framework of the Arab League, "And this is my message I wanted to convey to the American Jews and to the American government. We are only against Israel if it continues its occupation of the Arab lands, building settlements and not implementing international legitimacy resolutions."

He stressed that normalization will be only made in the course of the Arab League. He refused to describe receiving the Yemeni Jews as tourists in Israel as a form of normalization with Israel.