London tackles Yemen's many challenges

LONDON, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- The international community met Wednesday in London to advocate economic reform to help Yemen avoid falling into the hands of transnational terrorists.

The government in Sanaa said it aims to secure $4 billion in pledges from the international community. Declining oil reserves and pervasive drought complicate a multi-tiered security challenge from a Shiite rebellion in the north, a secessionist movement in the south and a growing threat from al-Qaida.

Delegates at the Wednesday summit insisted it was not a donors' conference, instead calling on Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to do more to reform the government and commit to economic restructuring, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Saleh government said it is pushing forward with a broad set of economic and political measures meant to put the country on the road to recovery.

U.S. Secretary Hillary Clinton, for her part, complained the Houthi rebellion in the north was distracting from efforts to put more pressure on al-Qaida. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemeni branch of al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the failed bombing of a U.S. passenger plane Christmas Day, putting Yemen in the sites of U.S. counter-terrorism officials.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown organized the Wednesday conference on Yemen, bringing members of the international community together with the Yemeni government to address the myriad of challenges before Sanaa.