UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon welcomed Britain's call for a high-level international meeting in late January on the deteriorating security situation in Yemen, United Nations spokesperson Martin Nesirky said here Monday.
Nesirky told a press briefing here that during a phone call to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday morning, Ban indicated his support for the counter-terrorism conference to take place in London on Jan. 28.
The secretary-general expressed concern over al-Qaida, and the humanitarian situation, said Nesirky.
Ban will be in Britain on Jan. 28, but he is scheduled to attend the international conference on Afghanistan, which happens to coincide on the
same date, said Nesirky, who added that the United Nations will be represented at the Yemen conference.
The impoverished Gulf state has made headlines in recent weeks. On Christmas Day, a 23-year old Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, failed
to blow up a U.S. airliner over Detroit after receiving training in Yemen.
The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed credit for the attack on Dec. 25. Over the past decade, al- Qaida has established its presence in the country's south, launching attacks against Western targets.
The rugged terrain of the Arabian peninsula's tip is ideal for hide-outs and training sites. Yemen's Foreign Minister Abubakr al- Qirbi has
said there could be up to 300 al-Qaida militants in his country.
Oil-rich Saudi Arabia fears that militant extremists could gain a permanent foothold in Yemen, which would then potentially disrupt the Gulf of Aden, home of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Al-Qaida has been trying to overthrow the Saudi government, which it sees as illegitimate
protectors of Islam's holiest sites.