SANAA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Yemen said Saturday the German government had lifted a ban on the incoming passenger flights from Yemen but still prohibited the air cargo, the official Saba news agency reported.

"The decision to lift the ban on Yemen's passenger flights came in the light of new security report from a German security team, who had visited Yemen to inspect security measures at the country' s airports," Saba quoted German ambassador to Yemen Michael Klor-Berchtold as saying.

Germany along with some other countries imposed the ban as precautionary measures after the attempts to mail bombs in packages from Yemen to the U.S. were foiled at the end of last month.

Yemen had protested the ban, considering it as "a collective punishment on the Yemeni people".

The country's President Ali Abdullah Saleh said the ban harmed Yemen's efforts on combating terrorism and served al-Qaida's purpose, which sought to damage Yemen's interests and its relations with international partners, according to Saba.