BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: As we've been reporting, again, there is word this morning that the U.S. may be ready to launch a covert operation against al Qaeda members operating in the country of Yemen. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon tracking the very latest on this development now -- Barbara, good morning.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. Well, maybe and maybe not. As much as the U.S. will say at the moment, U.S. officials are willing to confirm that there are somewhere between 500 and 800 U.S. military troops in the African nation of Djibouti near the Horn of Africa. These include some special forces. Djibouti, of course, being a long time stronghold of the French military, a close U.S. military ally. Now, the troops are in the region, the U.S. troops, propositioned to go after al Qaeda wherever the U.S. believes they may be hiding out throughout this area. The U.S. amphibious assault ship Bella Wood is also in the region, ready to participate if U.S. troops are ordered into action. Now, as CNN first reported back in August, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was giving special operations forces unprecedented authority to operate around the world, to move into countries, to hunt down and possibly even kill top al Qaeda operatives wherever they found them, even if the host nation didn't know that U.S. troops were in their country. Now, we are not being told exactly where these troops may be ordered into action, but this whole region is suspected, of course, to be full of al Qaeda operatives. Yemen is a country, in fact, of serious concern to the U.S. Top U.S. officials have said to CNN that over the last several months they do believe top al Qaeda operatives are hiding in Yemen, a country that is the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden, where the central government has very little control. They're also very interested in taking a look in other nearby countries such as Somalia -- Bill.</s>HEMMER: Barbara, thank you. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon this morning. Qaeda in Yemen>
U.S. May be Ready to Launch Covert Operation Against Al Qaeda in Yemen