U.S. tells Yemen to do more to fight militancy

The United States called on Yemen at an international conference on Wednesday to make reforms to help root out al Qaeda militants, and Sanaa promised a drive to improve the lives of its impoverished people.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh had to tackle the deep problems of a nation where almost half of its 23 million people live on less than $2 a day.

"We look to Yemen to enact reforms and continue to combat corruption and improve the country's investment and business climate," she told a meeting of Western and Gulf foreign ministers in London.

"If conflict and violence go unaddressed, they will undermine the political reform and reconciliation that are essential to Yemen's progress," she added.

For its part, Yemen said it would push ahead with political reform and start discussions with the International Monetary Fund about a programme to boost its economy.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, anxious to prevent Yemen becoming a failed state, called the London talks after a Yemen-based al Qaeda affiliate said it was behind an abortive bid to blow up a U.S.-bound plane with 300 people on board.

RADICALISATION DISPUTE

Major powers committed to supporting Yemen in its fight against al Qaeda by strengthening their counter-terrorist capabilities and improving aviation and border security.

The Dec. 25 attack on a Detroit-bound jet drove home how al Qaeda could threaten Western interests from Yemen and highlighted the risk that it could become a failed state, compounding security challenges already posed by lawless Somalia just across the Gulf of Aden.

However, Yemen's foreign minister Abubakr al-Qirbi disputed British statements that bomb suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was radicalised in Yemen. "He spent in London four years, and he spent in Yemen one year. Where did the radicalisation take place?" Qirbi told a news conference.

Abdulmutallab studied engineering at University College London between 2005 and 2008 before moving to Yemen.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband tried to laugh off the differences before defending the claim.

"I think it's important that I say in all seriousness that all of our evidence led us to make the very serious statements that we did about the radicalisation that took place," he said.

REGIONAL RISK

The joint statement released at the end of the two-hour meeting underlined the threat Yemen posed to neighbours including Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil producer.

"The challenges in Yemen are growing and, if not addressed, risk threatening the stability of the country and broader region," the statement said, affirming Yemeni sovereignty.

It was not a pledging conference and no fresh money was put on the table.

A donors' meeting in London in 2006 pledged about $5 billion for Yemen but only a small portion has been disbursed, partly because of concerns about how the money would be spent.

Clinton said Yemen must show it can allocate foreign aid effectively.

The meeting in London, on the eve of a major summit on the future of Afghanistan, is likely to be the first in a series.

Wednesday's talks brought together the Group of Eight world powers, Yemen's neighbours in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and Egypt, Jordan and Turkey.

Apart from al Qaeda, Yemen faces a Shi'ite Muslim revolt in the north, a secessionist movement in the south, water shortages, falling oil income and weak state control.

Keen to harness U.S. support and funding, President Saleh, 67, has sought to paint his internal foes as all somehow linked to al Qaeda.

Underlining the volatility in the region, Saudi Arabia declared victory on Wednesday over the Yemeni Shi'ite rebels after a truce offer from the insurgents.

Yemen's government had been fighting the rebels since 2004, while Saudi Arabia had stepped in since November when the rebels seized some Saudi territory.