U.S., Britain try to shore up Yemen vs al Qaeda

The United States will more than double its security assistance for Yemen and Britain will host an international meeting this month to seek ways of preventing the poorest Arab state from becoming an al Qaeda stronghold.

The moves highlighted mounting Western concern over Yemen after a failed Christmas Day attempt to bomb a U.S. airliner by a Nigerian man who said he had received training and equipment in the country that borders Saudi Arabia.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen branch of Osama bin Laden's network, has claimed responsibility for the attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to ignite explosives hidden in his underwear as his flight from Amsterdam approached Detroit.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Friday that Yemen presented a regional and global threat as an incubator and potential safe haven for terrorism.

Brown's office said he would host a high-level meeting in London on January 28 to discuss countering radicalisation in Yemen. The talks will be held in parallel with an international conference on Afghanistan the same day.

"The international community must not deny Yemen the support it needs to tackle extremism," Brown said in a statement. More....