US seeks new home for Saleh WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is engaged in an intensive effort with Yemen's embattled strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh to find him a new home, preferably not in the United States, so that his violence-wracked Arabian homeland can proceed with a transition to democracy, US officials say. President Barack Obama's counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, is leading the diplomacy, which appears to have gained steam this week when Saleh sought out US Ambassador Gerald Feierstein in the capital, Sana'a, to discuss where he could go. The meeting came shortly after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called out Saleh for not living up to his commitments to leave Yemen and allow elections ending his 34-year rule, the officials said. The 69-year-old leader may have transformed himself from a firm Arab ally of Saddam Hussein into a vital counterterrorism ally of the United States, but even Washington doesn't want to be the one forced to provide him a new home. The administration's unwillingness in part reflects the shifting US foreign policy calculus prompted by the Arab Spring. Political asylum for Saleh in the United States, or the appearance of preferential treatment from an administration that has championed peaceful and democratic change, would be highly unpopular with Yemeni political groups likely to take part in future governments. It also could anger people across the Arab world fighting to oust corrupt and authoritarian rulers. Meanwhile, Al-Qaeda has taken advantage of the political instability to enlarge its foothold in the country. Al-Qaeda's advance, in particular, has Washington on alert. Brennan and other officials are looking for ways to remove Saleh from Yemen as soon as possible so Yemen's political elites can get back to the business of fighting terrorists instead of each other.
