World powers vow Yemen long-term aid to stave off al-Qaeda - Summary

Wed, 27 Jan 2010

London - World powers must broaden the range of support they give to Yemen immediately and sustain it over many years to stop the country from becoming a base for al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, top diplomats at a conference in London said Wednesday. That will require aid which goes beyond military assistance to help the Yemeni government defeat rebels in the north and south, instead targeting reform, economic development and the rule of law.

"The assault on Yemen's problems cannot begin and end with its security challenges and its counter-terrorism strategy. In tackling terrorism, it is vital to tackle its root causes," said Britain's foreign minister, David Miliband, who chaired the conference.

"In Yemen's case, these are manifold: economic, social and political ... (They) will take a sustained commitment by Yemen and the international community," Miliband said.

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for the meeting in response to the failed bomb attack on an airliner over Detroit on December 25. The alleged bomber was reportedly trained in Yemen.

The meeting was piggy-backed onto a long-planned major international conference on Afghanistan that opens Thursday in London.

The overriding concern of the London talks was to stop Yemen becoming a failed state which could serve as a base for al-Qaeda and other militant groups.

"We believe that bringing unity and stability to Yemen is an urgent national-security priority of ours," US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said.

In particular, she praised the Yemeni government's "relentless pursuit of al-Qaeda," saying that "by doing so, they have earned the support and cooperation of the international community."

But conference participants stressed that the multitude of Yemen's problems would demand an equally broad-based response from both the Yemeni government and international players.

"This must be a partnership if there is to be a successful outcome," Clinton said of future cooperation.

Clinton emphasized that Yemen's problems could not be solved by "military force alone," stressing that the US treated Yemen's sovereignty as a "paramount guiding consideration."

"Ultimately, the future of Yemen is up to the Yemenis themselves," she said.

US military teams and intelligence agencies have been helping Yemeni troops in military operations that have killed six of the 15 top leaders of a regional al-Qaeda affiliate, The Washington Post reported earlier Wednesday. The operations were approved by President Barack Obama.

Yemen's Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi acknowledged that the problems facing his government "cannot be remedied unless we implement an agenda of reforms," adding that a "political solution must be found through dialogue."

He said that conference participants had shown "true understanding of the challenges facing Yemen."

Key among the conference decisions was an invitation by the Gulf Cooperation Council to a follow-up meeting in Riyadh on February 27-28. The foreign ministers of the six GCC countries - Bahrain, Kuwait, Quatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates - were among 20 nations taking part in the London meeting.

The Riyadh meeting should "share analysis on the barriers to effective aid in Yemen, leading to a joint dialogue with the government of Yemen, including on priority reforms," an official statement approved at the conference said.

Earlier drafts of the declaration had called for a donors' conference, but the phrasing was changed at the last minute.

The British government hosted a donors' conference on Yemen in 2006. On that occasion, world powers pledged some 5 billion dollars in aid, but they subsequently failed to pay.

"The vast bulk of that money has not been spent," Miliband acknowledged.

The countries at the conference also decided to found a regular discussion group, the "friends of Yemen," dedicated to keeping the country's problems high on the international agenda.

Those countries included the GCC sextet, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States), and international groups such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and European Union.

At the conference, the Yemeni government agreed to begin talks with the IMF on the possibility of applying for a loan in return for further economic reforms.

"Economic and social reform by the government of Yemen (is) key to long-term stability and prosperity ... with strong support from the international community," the final statement said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/306203,world-powers-vow-yemen-long-term-aid-to-stave-off-al-qaeda.html.