Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a surprise visit Tuesday to poverty-stricken Yemen, a key al Qaeda battleground and planning center in recent years.
The secretary -- who is visiting the Persian Gulf region -- was speaking with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and was to meet with legislators and members of the political opposition, civic and nongovernmental groups and a former child bride.
The trip was held under tight security. It was not announced until Clinton reached ground and landed in the capital, Sanaa.
Clinton told reporters that the United States wants to take a two-pronged approach to helping Yemen.
One is with military assistance to fight al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the al Qaeda affiliate there, and the other side is to provide help for social and economic development in a poor nation running out of oil and water.
Aid earlier was heavily weighted toward the military, and now the United States wants to balance civilian and defense help. CNN
