UK warns of 'massive dangers' if Yemen collapses

By Christophe Schmidt (AFP) – 5 hours ago

UNITED NATIONS — London on Friday warned of "massive dangers" to world security should Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country and an increasing stronghold of Al-Qaeda, become a failed state.

"The underpinning issue (of help to Yemen) is the protection of the stability of the state overall and let's be honest: there are massive dangers to the country, the region and the wider world if ever Yemen becomes failed state," International Development Minister Alan Duncan said.

Duncan, who described "a very potent cocktail for danger," was speaking at a meeting at UN headquarters in New York of the Friends of Yemen -- an international support group for the country.

The Arabian Peninsula nation is suffering growing security and economic strains and faces a rising Al-Qaeda presence.

US authorities blame a plot to blow up a US-bound airliner on Christmas Day last year on the Yemen-based organization known as Al-Qaeda on the Arabian peninsula. The group also claimed the attack, which was foiled only when the alleged bomber's explosive failed to ignite properly.

Meanwhile, the central government in Sanaa is struggling to deal with rebels in the north, separatists in the south and an economy holed by declining oil reserves, the main revenue source.

"You have a country that's running out of oil, running out of water and running out of time," Duncan said.

According to the UN refugee agency, at least 4,000 civilians have fled fighting between government forces and militants in southern Yemen since last weekend.

Friends of Yemen said in a statement that it supported internal Yemeni attempts to resolve political tensions and promised to "provide additional support for social protection" to shield the country's poor from the side-effects of painful economic reforms.

Yemen's donors met in February to discuss disbursement of the rest of 5.7 billion dollars promised in 2006.

But Duncan said that three billion dollars of that sum remained unspent, "simply because the country has not been able to show the capacity to absorb the fund."

"We need to see proper improvement, otherwise none of these programs will have the desired effect," he said.

Yemeni forces have since last weekend been locked in a standoff with up to 100 alleged Al-Qaeda militants who officials say are holed up in the Shabwa province town of Huta.

In late August, government forces and alleged Al-Qaeda militants fought a pitched battle in the town of Loder in the southern province of Abyan.

At least 33 people were killed, including 19 militants, according to an AFP tally based on official and medical sources.

Protests and intermittent unrest have also rocked the south of Yemen, where there is a growing secessionist movement and many residents complain of discrimination by the Sanaa government.

Thousands of supporters of Yemen's Southern Movement, whose members want either increased autonomy or independence for the region, demonstrated in south Yemen on Thursday, local officials and witnesses said.

Yemeni authorities also face a sporadic Zaidi Shiite rebellion in the north.

Yemen is also the ancestral homeland of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

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Nations vow support for Yemen as it faces threats

* Yemen coping with security, development challenges

* Yemen's FM says his country waiting for pledged aid

By Missy Ryan

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Donor nations voiced support for Yemen on Friday as the poor country struggles to contain a rising al Qaeda threat and tackle other challenges that have made it a top world security concern.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague chaired the meeting of senior officials from Europe, China, Russia, and Gulf states, including European Union foreign policy boss Catherine Ashton and U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns.

"No friend of Yemen can stand by when the economy of that state comes close to collapse ... Or when the authority of the government is challenged by extremism, by violence, by crime or by corruption," Hague told the meeting, held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

"We are committed to protection of the people of Yemen," he said.

After a Yemen-based arm of al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the botched bombing of a U.S.-bound airliner late last year, fears have grown that Yemen could unravel into a failed state allowing extremist groups to thrive and launch attacks.

Officials expressed worry about mounting radicalism in Yemen, whose massive population of jobless youths are seen as a ready target for extremists, who are staging increasingly bold attacks on international and domestic targets.

"Yemen's security and stability and progress matters not just to Yemenis ... making sure this is not a country al Qaeda can infiltrate with impunity," British junior foreign minister Alistair Burt said after the meeting.

"The world has a vested interest in making sure Yemen is a success," he said.

The government in Sana'a faces a host of conflicts, including an intermittent six-year conflict with Shi'ite rebels in the north and mounting unrest by southern separatists.

The government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh is working to cement a shaky truce it made this year with northern Shi'ite rebels to end a war that has raged on and off since 2004.

PRAISE FOR REFORMS

But security is only one of a number of entrenched problems in Yemen, where only about 60 percent of adults are literate and water scarcity poses an existential threat.

People who attended a closed portion of the meeting said foreign officials praised Yemen for implementing some economic and political reforms, but said much more was required.

A 2006 donor conference resulted in pledges of about $5.7 billion for Yemen, but only a modest share of those funds have been disbursed, officials said.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi told the meeting that his country could not afford to wait for pledged economic aid or spend more time simply discussing international support for Yemen.

"We have to move from the phase of goodwill to the phase of good work," he told the room packed with foreign officials.

"It's not a matter of writing prescriptions for your patient, you have to get the medicine otherwise his case will get only worse," Qirbi told Reuters after the conference.

"That medicine is more assistance for development and providing services, for improving standard of living of the Yemeni people -- for delivering on promises," he said.

Yet donors note that a big part of the delay has been due to Yemen's inability to effectively channel such vast sums into immature state institutions and concerns about corruption.

Yemen, whose oil reserves the International Monetary Fund says will run out within a decade, has introduced some fuel subsidy reforms as it struggles to tame high fiscal deficits, and it is working to reform its tax system.

Donors will hold another meeting of the "Friends of Yemen" group, and another conference on economic aid, in Riyadh early next year. (Editing by Eric Beech)

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'Friends of Yemen' Pledge Their Political Support

Nations looking to help stabilize Yemen so al-Qaida and other terrorist groups will not develop a lasting stronghold there, met Friday in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. The so-called Friends of Yemen group voiced their support for the security and stability of the Arabian Peninsula nation.

Yemen is among the poorest countries in the world. It has declining oil and water resources, a high population growth rate and massive unemployment. A weak central government, rampant corruption and feuding clans have led to the country's becoming a safe haven for terrorists. But it has also led the international community to take notice and take action.

AP

Alan Duncan (file)

British Minister of State for International Development Alan Duncan said after Friday's meeting that Yemen's stability is one of the most pressing international issues right now.

"If we can stop Yemen becoming at its most extreme a new Afghanistan or a Somalia or a collapsing state, then I think we will have done the world a favor," he said.

He said the expanding population and 20 percent unemployment rate, as well as lagging education and health systems, must be addressed in order to stem the possibility of radicalization of a disgruntled population. 

Britain's foreign secretary co-hosted Friday's ministerial level session along with Saudi Arabia's deputy foreign minister and Yemen's foreign minister. 

Minister Duncan said the Friends have very clear objectives.

"So what this process is for is to press the Yemenis to improve their governance, to decentralize, to remove corruption, improve their human rights, but also to help them sort out what it is at the moment a pretty perilous economic mess.," he said.

In a statement, the Friends said they would explore new long-term funding mechanisms to help bolster Yemen's Development Plan, including the idea of establishing a development fund for the country. 

Saudi Arabia has offered to host another meeting to review progress early next year. 

There are 22 countries in the Friends of Yemen group, including the United States, and countries of the European Union and Gulf Cooperation Council and Arab League. The United Nations, International Monetary Fund and World Bank are also a part of the Group.

* Margaret Besheer | United Nations

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