World powers to boost Yemen to better fight terror

(AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday the world cannot ignore the poverty and instability that is fueling extremism in Yemen — radicalism that officials say played a role in the attempted plane bombing over Detroit.

Clinton said Yemen's fragile government needs urgent help to address crippling internal conflicts and the growing terrorist threat.

She was attending a meeting in London with officials from Yemen and about 20 other countries that was hurriedly convened to respond to increased activity by al-Qaida in that country. The meeting follows the unsuccessful Christmas Day airline attack in the United States, for which Yemen's al-Qaida affiliate claimed responsibility.

"Some might ask, given the past history, why we should feel compelled to offer more assistance to Yemen," Clinton said in remarks prepared for the meeting. "The answer is that we cannot afford inaction. What happens in Yemen is a matter of shared concern and shared responsibility."

Clinton and delegates from the Middle East, Russia and Europe planned to discuss fears that declining oil revenues are weakening Yemen's ability to deliver basic services — stirring dissent and allowing terrorists a firmer foothold in the country.

Delegates, which include the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. won't pledge new funding, but instead will form a new organization to help Yemen spend $5 billion donated in 2006 — most of which remains untouched.

Britain and the U.S. are demanding political reforms to ensure that aid is used to address poverty, food and water shortages and mass illiteracy.

"To help the people of Yemen, we — the international community — can and must do more. And so must the Yemeni government," Clinton said.

The talks also focused on providing support for Yemen to seek a cease-fire with Shiite rebels — known as the Hawthis — whose bloody revolt in the country's north is diverting resources from the fight against al-Qaida.

Clinton said more effort was needed, as well, to resolve a long dispute between the government and a secessionist movement in the south — members of which staged a noisy protest in London as talks took place.

"Insecure borders and internal political conflict fuel instability by opening space for terrorists — both homegrown and foreign — to organize, plot, and train," Clinton said.

Last week, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned of the dangers posed by the Yemen-based Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula group, and the U.K. raised its terror alert status, partly in response to the threat.

A Yemeni official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, said U.S. military and intelligence agencies have been participating in joint operations with Yemeni troops, and the two countries are discussing a new aviation unit to help bolster Yemen's counterterrorism forces.

The joint operations have killed scores of people, among them six of 15 top leaders of a regional al-Qaida affiliate, according to one accounting, and closer to four leaders according to another, officials told The Associated Press. The discrepancy is likely because Yemen and the U.S. have different lists of people they want to go after and the Yemeni list includes some not on the U.S. list, one official said.

The operations were approved by President Barack Obama, begun six weeks ago and involve several dozen troops from the U.S. military's clandestine Joint Special Operations Command. U.S. officials have said repeatedly that American advisers do not take part in raids in Yemen, but provide intelligence, surveillance, planning and other weapons assistance.

As part of the operations, Obama approved a Dec. 24 strike against a compound where a U.S. citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-Yemeni Islamic cleric, was thought to be meeting with other regional al-Qaida leaders. He was not the focus of the strike and was not killed.

Al-Awlaki has been connected with the alleged perpetrators of two recent attacks on American soil: the Nov. 5 shooting rampage at the Fort Hood, Texas, army base that killed 13 people and the Christmas airliner bombing attempt.

Yemen's foreign minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said his nation needs helicopters and logistical support, but won't allow the U.S. to establish permanent bases there. "Why do we need outside soldiers to fight when we can do the fight ourselves?" he told BBC radio.

Officials said nations at Wednesday's meeting will launch a new international organization — the Friends of Yemen — to help the country identify aid priorities. It will include the Group of Eight countries, members of the Gulf Cooperation Council and other neighboring nations.

___

Associated Press Writers Pauline Jelinek and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.