Fighters loyal to al-Qaida have seized control of villages near the Yemeni port city of Mukalla in an apparent bid to take over swathes of the southeastern province of Hadramawt, the interior ministry and residents said on Friday.

The ministry condemned what it said was a "terrorist plot to proclaim an Islamic emirate in the Ghayl Bawazir area" near Mukalla, the provincial capital.

President Barack Obama Thursday laid out new guidelines for drone strikes abroad and launched a new bid to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, seeking to rein in a "boundless" U.S. war on terror.

In a major policy speech, Obama said the United States faced a new threat from "diverse" terror franchises and the growing threat of homegrown radicals, after putting al-Qaida in Pakistan and Afghanistan on the path to defeat.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday condemned the killing of a British soldier in London by two suspected Islamic extremists as "appalling" and "horrific."

"The United States stands resolute with the United Kingdom, our ally and friend, against violent extremism and terror," Obama said in a written statement.

President Barack Obama plans to resume transfers of inmates from Guantanamo Bay to other countries in a fresh bid to close the controversial U.S. prison, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

In the coming weeks, Obama will try to accelerate efforts to transfer detainees out of Guantanamo partly by lifting a long-running ban on sending Yemeni inmates to their home country, the newspaper said, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

A U.S. congress delegation is scheduled to arrive in Beirut in the upcoming few days to hold talks with senior officials over the situation in Lebanon and the region.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Wednesday, the delegation will also discuss the impact of the conflict in Syria on the neighboring countries including Lebanon.

A key U.S. senator on Tuesday backed an end to U.S. sanctions on Myanmar after a landmark visit by the country's reformist leader, signaling a new normalization in relations despite rights concerns.

President Thein Sein, a general-turned-civilian who ended Myanmar's long isolation from the West, met lawmakers at the U.S. Capitol one day after the first White House summit by a leader of his country in nearly 50 years.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday threw his support behind Myanmar President Thein Sein in his drive to reform a former pariah state but warned that a wave of violence against Muslims must stop.

As his guest became the first leader of his country in almost 50 years to visit the White House, Obama praised Myanmar's journey away from brutal junta rule and promised Washington would offer more political and economic support.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday expressed to President Michel Suleiman in a telephone call his concern about the role of Hizbullah in Syria, the White House said in a released statement.

"President Obama stressed his concern about Hizbullah's active and growing role in Syria, fighting on behalf of the (President Bashar) Assad regime, which is counter to the Lebanese government's policies," said the statement.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Thursday he had not known about abuses by tax officials who targeted conservative groups until a report into the affair was leaked to the press last week.

"I promise you this. The minute I found out about it, then my focus has been about making sure we get the thing fixed," Obama told reporters.

President Thein Sein's historic invitation to the White House is an endorsement of "Myanmar's Spring" and a further sign that the former pariah's reforms are irreversible, a senior Myanmar official said.

Washington will welcome the former general on Monday in a hugely symbolic reward for sweeping changes since he took power two years ago. He will be the first leader of the former military-ruled nation to visit since 1966.