Yemen pledges to reform and wins support for fight against al-QaidaForeign ministers from the US, Britain, Saudi Arabia and 20 other countries met to

Ian Black, Middle East editor guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 27 January 2010 20.20 GMT Article history
A protester holds a South Yemen flag during a demonstration outside 10 Downing Street. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Yemen tonight won broad international and Arab support for fighting al-Qaida but was urged to carry out economic and social reforms to address the causes of its instability and stop it becoming a failed state where extremism can flourish.

Foreign ministers from the US, Britain, Saudi Arabia and 20 other countries met in London at Gordon Brown's invitation to back President Ali Abdullah Salih and pledge not to interfere in Yemen's internal affairs. But they also issued a stark public warning of the dangers of inaction.

"The challenges in Yemen are growing and, if not addressed, risk threatening the stability of the country and broader region," said a statement issued after two hours of talks at the Foreign Office. It called for "urgent and concrete action" by Yemen to address "conditions conducive to radicalisation and instability".

Brown convened the meeting in response to the Christmas Day attempt by a Nigerian, Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab, to blow up a US passenger plane over Detroit – claimed by al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsula and praised by Osama bin Laden. Abdulmutallab is alleged to have been trained and equipped in Yemen.

Intercepted communications "chatter" from Yemen led to the decision last week to raise the UK terrorist threat level to severe, the Guardian has learned.

Alarm that al-Qaida is finding safe havens in the country's "ungoverned spaces" – tribal areas beyond the reach of the cash-strapped government – has triggered an intensive and largely clandestine US effort to assist Yemeni security forces with intelligence, equipment and training. The Washington Post reported that secret joint operations had resulted in the deaths of six al-Qaida leaders in recent weeks.

The London meeting promised to support Yemeni counter-terrorist capabilities, enhance aviation and border security, and strengthen coastguard operations. Yemen pledged in return to pursue reforms and initiate discussions with the IMF. An existing 10-point plan includes scrapping fuel subsidies and public sector jobs.

"We look to Yemen to enact reforms to improve the lot of its people and reduce the influence of groups like al-Qaida," said Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state. "If conflict and violence go unaddressed they will undermine the political reform and reconciliation that are essential to Yemen's progress."

David Miliband, the foreign secretary, said: "Yemen faces a crisis that could have implications for the people of Yemen and the whole region."

Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, Yemen's foreign minister, said: "We want to implement our national reform programme, combat terrorism and create an environment that will help us find political solutions through dialogue." Saudi Arabia, seen by the US and Britain as the key to support of its southern neighbour, agreed to host a follow-up conference next month to look at "the barriers to effective aid" – diplomatic code for the Sana'a government's shortcomings in terms of capacity, corruption and lack of transparency.

An international conference on Yemen in 2006 pledged $5bn (£3bn) in aid, but only 7% of that was spent. "The money is there but we need a mechanism to ensure it reaches ordinary people," a Gulf diplomat said.

Rising international concerns about instability in the Arab world's poorest country were underlined by the participation of the G8 countries, the EU and UN. The delegates were in London to attend Thursday's Afghanistan conference.

References in the statement to Yemen's sovereignty and independence reflected nervousness in Sana'a at charges by the opposition and Islamists that the west is dictating terms. Yemen is keen to emphasise that it can fight al-Qaida by itself and will not tolerate the presence of any foreign forces. President Barack Obama has insisted he will not put American "boots on the ground".

Saudi Arabia and the five other members of the Gulf Co-operation Council will join a new "friends of Yemen" group to monitor the country's security, economic and development issues. No new financial pledges were made.

Also in Yemen
In Sana'a, a Yemeni official announced the building of an $11m US-funded rehabilitation centre for returning Guantánamo detainees. There are 91 Yemenis left in the prison. Washington suspended transfers to Yemen this month because of the security situation. The US wants Yemen to emulate Saudi Arabia, which has rehabilitated former jihadis by combining religious re-education with material and social benefits.