BEIRUT (Reuters) – For once the world is attending to Yemen, thanks to a botched al Qaeda attack on a U.S. airliner.

Western and Arab donors met in London last week to translate their alarm about the threat from Yemen-based militants into practical help to President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s government.

They will need to keep up a concerted, long-term effort to help Yemen defeat the poverty, conflict and corruption on which Islamist radicals thrive if they want to reduce the risk of more assaults like the December 25 attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound plane.

The task is as delicate as it is daunting because, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hinted, the wily Saleh’s style of governance is itself part of the mess Yemen is in.

BEIRUT, Feb 1 (Reuters) – For once the world is attending to Yemen, thanks to a botched al Qaeda attack on a U.S. airliner. Western and Arab donors met in London last week to translate their alarm about the threat from Yemen-based militants into practical help to President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s government. They will need to keep up a concerted, long-term effort to help Yemen defeat the poverty, conflict and corruption on which Islamist radicals thrive if they want to reduce the risk of more assaults like the Dec. 25 attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound plane. The task is as delicate as it is daunting because, as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hinted, the wily Saleh’s style of governance is itself part of the mess Yemen is in. "Yemen must take ownership of the challenges it faces," she said, urging the Sanaa government to enact reforms, combat corruption and improve the business and investment climate. The United States and its allies have sought to assist Yemen before, only for interest to falter after initial gains. "Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) emerged in Yemen partly because the U.S. phased out its support after most of the ‘first-generation’ jihadis were successfully locked up," said Philip McCrum of the Economist Intelligence Unit in London. Similarly, past efforts to spur economic and social progress in Yemen, which ranks 140th out of 182 countries on the U.N. Human Development index, have run aground: a 2006 donors conference pledged $4.7 billion but little has been spent, partly due to Yemen’s incapacity to absorb the funds. No new money was promised in London, but Yemen’s rich Gulf Arab neighbours said they would meet in Riyadh on Feb. 27-28 to consider "barriers to effective aid" — which include corruption — before discussing reforms with the Sanaa government. McCrum said Gulf oil producers were more directly exposed to security risks seeping from an unstable Yemen than the West. "They have the most to lose should Yemen fail and the most to gain should they manage to stop it tipping over the brink." For its part, Yemen promised to work on reforms and to start talks on a programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "This is a step forward, but does not really deal with the issue of widespread corruption," said Pauline Baker, president of the Washington-based Fund for Peace. "That is at the heart of the dysfunction of the Yemeni state and must be part of the reform agenda if the country is to begin to stabilise." PATRONAGE NETWORKS Saleh has stayed president for three decades partly by manipulating a complex web of patronage to keep the support of powerful tribes and military and security elites. Persuading him to unravel that web and curb cruder forms of graft will be among the tough challenges for a new international "Friends of Yemen" reform group due to start work in March. Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani, an independent Yemeni analyst, said restoring stability required such a coordination mechanism among Western and Gulf donors, especially Saudi Arabia. "With this, Yemen now has the world as its ally in tackling the deep structural distortions in its political system. This is an opportunity that must not be lost," he said. The West seems to have heard the Yemeni government’s message that a narrow security focus on al Qaeda cannot rescue a country racked by a northern revolt and separatist unrest in the south. Economic weakness fuels these conflicts. Yemen’s prime minister estimates unemployment at 35 percent. Oil output is falling and a water crisis threatens the future of 23 million Yemenis, whose number swells more than 3 percent a year. "Crude oil output, the mainstay of government revenue and exports, has been in decline since 2000. Barring major new discoveries, exploitable oil reserves could be exhausted in a relatively short period," said an IMF note on Yemen last week. New gas exports will provide some cushion for dwindling oil, it said, but noted that lower crude prices and output, coupled with weaker foreign direct investment and remittances, had already put pressure on Yemen’s fiscal and external accounts. Christopher Boucek, an associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said foreign powers had taken an important first step by agreeing to work together on Yemen. "This will need to be followed up with sustained and thorough concrete action. Focus on the systemic challenges confronting Yemen, including a failing economy and numerous human security dilemmas, is vital in order to address the grievances that fuel militancy," Boucek said. Without international help for the Sanaa government, he added: "Yemen’s problems will not stay in Yemen." Nearly half of all Yemenis live on less than $2 a day — and al Qaeda is exploiting their despair, Yemeni officials say. "In Yemen, cash trumps ideology," said McCrum, the Economist Intelligence Unit analyst. "The economy is therefore key to stability. Yemeni tribes would much rather access public services than AQAP cash and the uncertainty that comes with it. "Yemen is not a failed state yet. It can be rescued." Yemen’s crises are so overwhelming that any salvage effort could take decades — a serious test of donors’ staying power. Gregory Johnsen, a Princeton University scholar, said outside powers had accurately analysed Yemen’s problems in the past, but never dealt with them except on a rhetorical level. "There has been no sustainability. And in Yemen the only barometer for success is sustainable and focused attention." (Editing by Samia Nakhoul)

BEIRUT, Feb 1 (Reuters) – For once the world is attending to Yemen, thanks to a botched al Qaeda attack on a U.S. airliner. Western and Arab donors met in London last week to translate their alarm about the threat from Yemen-based militants into practical help to President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s government. They will need to keep up a concerted, long-term effort to help Yemen defeat the poverty, conflict and corruption on which Islamist radicals thrive if they want to reduce the risk of more assaults like the Dec. 25 attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound plane. The task is as delicate as it is daunting because, as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hinted, the wily Saleh’s style of governance is itself part of the mess Yemen is in. "Yemen must take ownership of the challenges it faces," she said, urging the Sanaa government to enact reforms, combat corruption and improve the business and investment climate. The United States and its allies have sought to assist Yemen before, only for interest to falter after initial gains. "Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) emerged in Yemen partly because the U.S. phased out its support after most of the ‘first-generation’ jihadis were successfully locked up," said Philip McCrum of the Economist Intelligence Unit in London. Similarly, past efforts to spur economic and social progress in Yemen, which ranks 140th out of 182 countries on the U.N. Human Development index, have run aground: a 2006 donors conference pledged $4.7 billion but little has been spent, partly due to Yemen’s incapacity to absorb the funds. No new money was promised in London, but Yemen’s rich Gulf Arab neighbours said they would meet in Riyadh on Feb. 27-28 to consider "barriers to effective aid" — which include corruption — before discussing reforms with the Sanaa government. McCrum said Gulf oil producers were more directly exposed to security risks seeping from an unstable Yemen than the West. "They have the most to lose should Yemen fail and the most to gain should they manage to stop it tipping over the brink." For its part, Yemen promised to work on reforms and to start talks on a programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "This is a step forward, but does not really deal with the issue of widespread corruption," said Pauline Baker, president of the Washington-based Fund for Peace. "That is at the heart of the dysfunction of the Yemeni state and must be part of the reform agenda if the country is to begin to stabilise." PATRONAGE NETWORKS Saleh has stayed president for three decades partly by manipulating a complex web of patronage to keep the support of powerful tribes and military and security elites. Persuading him to unravel that web and curb cruder forms of graft will be among the tough challenges for a new international "Friends of Yemen" reform group due to start work in March. Abdul-Ghani al-Iryani, an independent Yemeni analyst, said restoring stability required such a coordination mechanism among Western and Gulf donors, especially Saudi Arabia. "With this, Yemen now has the world as its ally in tackling the deep structural distortions in its political system. This is an opportunity that must not be lost," he said. The West seems to have heard the Yemeni government’s message that a narrow security focus on al Qaeda cannot rescue a country racked by a northern revolt and separatist unrest in the south. Economic weakness fuels these conflicts. Yemen’s prime minister estimates unemployment at 35 percent. Oil output is falling and a water crisis threatens the future of 23 million Yemenis, whose number swells more than 3 percent a year. "Crude oil output, the mainstay of government revenue and exports, has been in decline since 2000. Barring major new discoveries, exploitable oil reserves could be exhausted in a relatively short period," said an IMF note on Yemen last week. New gas exports will provide some cushion for dwindling oil, it said, but noted that lower crude prices and output, coupled with weaker foreign direct investment and remittances, had already put pressure on Yemen’s fiscal and external accounts. Christopher Boucek, an associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said foreign powers had taken an important first step by agreeing to work together on Yemen. "This will need to be followed up with sustained and thorough concrete action. Focus on the systemic challenges confronting Yemen, including a failing economy and numerous human security dilemmas, is vital in order to address the grievances that fuel militancy," Boucek said. Without international help for the Sanaa government, he added: "Yemen’s problems will not stay in Yemen." Nearly half of all Yemenis live on less than $2 a day — and al Qaeda is exploiting their despair, Yemeni officials say. "In Yemen, cash trumps ideology," said McCrum, the Economist Intelligence Unit analyst. "The economy is therefore key to stability. Yemeni tribes would much rather access public services than AQAP cash and the uncertainty that comes with it. "Yemen is not a failed state yet. It can be rescued." Yemen’s crises are so overwhelming that any salvage effort could take decades — a serious test of donors’ staying power. Gregory Johnsen, a Princeton University scholar, said outside powers had accurately analysed Yemen’s problems in the past, but never dealt with them except on a rhetorical level. "There has been no sustainability. And in Yemen the only barometer for success is sustainable and focused attention." (Editing by Samia Nakhoul)

BEIRUT, Jan 28 (Reuters) – An Iraqi panel that vetoed more than 500 election candidates was only doing its job of purging former Baathists from politics, not targeting Sunni Muslims or any other group, its chairman Ahmed Chalabi said on Thursday. The commission’s move this month upset some Sunnis, whose minority community dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein’s rule, raising tensions before the March 7 parliamentary poll. In fact, more Shi’ite Muslims than Sunnis appeared on a list of 511 barred candidates and around 50 names were later removed because they were found to have been wrongly included. "I didn’t make the law, the commission didn’t make the law. We are implementing the law," Chalabi told Reuters in Beirut, denying any political interference in winnowing the candidates. He said the Supreme National Commission for Accountability and Justice had a legal mandate to bar certain categories of ex-Baathists, members of Saddam’s security agencies and others. But questions about the commission’s legality and its opaque workings have generated fears that the election may deepen Iraq’s sectarian divide, even as violence begins to fade. Chalabi, 65, said there was no political storm in Iraq over the panel’s work, accusing the Western media of exaggerating. He said Iraqis did not view the anti-Baathist law as sectarian. "People talk about the rule of law. Why should it be discarded just because of the conception of some foreign parties that the law is not fair?" the secular Shi’ite politician asked. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said in Baghdad last week his country had no problem holding Baath party loyalists accountable and denied he was trying to mediate in the dispute. Human Rights Watch criticised Iraq’s candidate-vetting system this week and called for those excluded to be reinstated. "This commission has undermined faith in the electoral process at a time when there is already tremendous sectarian tension and a serious risk of a renewed Sunni election boycott," said Sarah Leah Whitson, the group’s Middle East director. "Excluding candidates in a secretive process based on unclear criteria ensures that the election will be neither free nor fair," she added in a statement by the U.S.-based watchdog. ELECTION MILESTONE The election is a major test for Iraq’s stability as the Sunni-Shi’ite bloodletting that followed the 2003 U.S. invasion recedes and U.S. troops prepare to withdraw by the end of 2011. Chalabi, an American favourite before the invasion, later fell from favour in Washington. Adept at political manoeuvering, he has nurtured ties with Iran and is now an election candidate on a slate led by Iraq’s largest Shi’ite religious party. He said Iraq had decided former Baathists should be barred from public life in the same way as Nazis in post-war Germany. If the law was considered too harsh, it should be changed. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, seeking to claim credit for improved security to boost his election campaign, has blamed Baath loyalists for several bombings in Baghdad since August. Suspected Sunni Islamist suicide bombers killed more than 30 people on Monday in coordinated attacks on three Baghdad hotels. Chalabi said stability in Iraq had improved in the sense that there were no more no-go areas for the government, but argued that subversives had penetrated the security forces."The people who are blowing things up have infiltrated the security system," he said. "They are inimical to the government and they facilitate the work of the terrorists." Chalabi listed government corruption, Baathist groups and Islamist militants as the greatest threats facing Iraq and denied that the candidate-vetting process was destabilising. "Those who want to cause trouble will do so whether there is a commission or not. They want to bring down the system." (Editing by Noah Barkin)

Jan 22 (Reuters) – Al Qaeda is just one of the pressures stoking instability in Yemen, an Arab state verging on collapse in a region that includes oil giant Saudi Arabia and some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

A host of other problems beset the southern Arabian country including a Muslim Shi’ite revolt, southern secessionism, water shortages, falling oil income, a humanitarian crisis, worsening poverty and weak state control.

About 42 percent of Yemen’s 23 million people live on less than $2 a day, the World Bank says. The riyal sank to its lowest level in years this week. Revenue from dwindling oil output fell 70 percent in Jan-Oct 2009. New gas exports cannot fill the gap.

The population is set to double in 20 years, but jobs are already scarce and water resources are collapsing.

Jan 22 (Reuters) – Al Qaeda is just one of the pressures stoking instability in Yemen, an Arab state verging on collapse in a region that includes oil giant Saudi Arabia and some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. A host of other problems beset the southern Arabian country including a Muslim Shi’ite revolt, southern secessionism, water shortages, falling oil income, a humanitarian crisis, worsening poverty and weak state control. About 42 percent of Yemen’s 23 million people live on less than $2 a day, the World Bank says. The riyal sank to its lowest level in years this week. Revenue from dwindling oil output fell 70 percent in Jan-Oct 2009. New gas exports cannot fill the gap. The population is set to double in 20 years, but jobs are already scarce and water resources are collapsing. Sanaa declared war on al Qaeda on Jan. 14 amid pressure for a crackdown on the group after its Yemen-based wing said it was behind a Dec. 25 bid to bomb a U.S.-bound passenger plane. The United States and its allies meet in London on Wednesday to discuss how to combat militancy and promote reform in Yemen, ruled for nearly 32 years by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, 67. Here are some questions and answers about how outside powers are dealing with Yemen: WHAT IS U.S. POLICY TOWARD YEMEN? Saleh pledged cooperation with the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. cities and received military and economic aid in return. But by 2004 al Qaeda appeared to be in disarray and U.S. interest waned. In 2006 Washington slashed aid to mark its wrath at Yemen’s perceived lenience towards militants. The pendulum has swung back. U.S. counter-terrorism officials now rank Yemen as a top concern after Afghanistan and Pakistan. U.S. President Barack Obama told Saleh in September that Yemen’s security was vital to that of the United States, offering more help to the impoverished country. U.S. General David Petraeus, who discussed military cooperation with Saleh in Sanaa on Jan. 2, has said Washington will more than double its $70 million security aid to Yemen. Yemeni armed forces, with at least indirect U.S. assistance, have staged several raids on al Qaeda targets in recent weeks. The United States has largely refrained from criticising the "Scorched Earth" military offensive that Saleh launched against Zaydi Shi’ite rebels in the north in August. But it has not endorsed government claims that Iran is supporting the rebels. Alarmed at Yemen’s slide toward chaos, the United States is throwing its weight behind a corruption-tainted government whose legitimacy and control is tenuous across swathes of the country. Anti-U.S. sentiment is already rife among Yemen’s 23 million people. Deeper U.S. entanglement in combating al Qaeda may spark more sympathy for the militants in a country awash with weapons. WHAT ARE THE SAUDIS DOING? Saudi Arabia is the Yemeni government’s biggest financial donor and most important ally, along with the United States, but some Yemenis resent the influence of their wealthy neighbour. The Saudis fear that al Qaeda’s local wing, renamed al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) a year ago, is trying to relaunch armed attacks from Yemen to destabilise the kingdom and possibly other U.S. allies in the oil-producing Gulf region. In August an AQAP suicide bomber narrowly failed to kill the Saudi prince heading the kingdom’s anti-terrorism campaign. Disheartened by the failure of Yemeni forces to crush the Zaydi revolt, the Saudis themselves attacked the so-called Houthi insurgents in November after a cross-border rebel raid. Riyadh said 113 Saudi soldiers had been killed in the conflict. The Houthis list among their grievances inroads made by Saudi-backed Sunni Muslim radicals in their northern heartland. The violence has displaced more than 200,000 civilians. WHAT ROLE IS IRAN PLAYING? Saleh’s government, which portrays the Houthis as catspaws of Iran, has rejected Iranian offers to mediate in the conflict, which has long roots dating back to Yemen’s 1960s civil war. Iranian state media take a pro-Houthi line, echoing rebel accusations about Saudi and U.S. involvement in the fighting, but Tehran denies arming or funding the insurgents. Western diplomats say they have little evidence of any Iranian support for the Houthis, whose Zaydi brand of Shi’ism is doctrinally distinct from that practised in Iran. But Saudi intervention, as well as a strand of anti-Zaydi sentiment in Sunni-majority Yemen, might foster more shared interests between the Houthis and Iran, some analysts say. WHY SHOULD THE WORLD CARE? The botched airliner attack underlined the danger of Yemen becoming a haven for al Qaeda militancy. Any Yemeni state failure would also pose risks for Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. Concern has also focused on Yemen’s proximity to failed Horn of Africa state Somalia, which sits across the Gulf of Aden and hosts a pirate community that preys on international shipping. Nearly 20,000 ships pass through the Gulf of Aden each year, heading to and from the Suez Canal. On the other side of the peninsula, 40 percent of all oil seaborne oil trade or about 17 million barrels passes through the Strait of Hormuz every day. Somalia’s rebel Islamist militant group al Shabaab said on Jan. 1 it was ready to send reinforcements to al Qaeda in Yemen should the United States carry out retaliatory strikes there. Despite its own dire economic straits, Yemen hosts several hundred thousand Somali and other African refugees and migrants, many of whom try to move on to Gulf countries or Europe. Yemen also faces a humanitarian crisis in the north, and across the country, more than half of Yemeni children show signs of stunting from malnutrition, they say. Most foreign investment in Yemen is in oil and gas resources located in the south, where violent unrest broke out last year after an April 28 opposition rally to mark the 1994 civil war in which Saleh’s forces defeated an attempt at secession. Southerners, whose People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen merged with the north in 1990, complain that northerners abused the union to grab their resources and discriminate against them. (Editing by Janet McBride)

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Yemen, a land of startling beauty and often engaging people, has gained an evil public image since an al Qaeda group based there claimed a failed December 25 attack on a U.S. airliner.

But the West and its Arab allies should not just focus on fighting terrorism if they are to help the southern Arabian nation stifle the threat from militants exploiting internal conflicts, poverty and weak central authority, analysts say.

“The West must adopt a ‘whole of government’ approach that sets immediate counter-terrorism objectives within a broader framework that attempts to tackle longer-term economic pressures and reduce political tensions,” said Yemen expert Ginny Hill.

That would require a united Western position, support from Yemen’s Arab neighbors and a willing and able partner in Yemen, Hill, author of a Chatham House paper on Yemen, told Reuters.

BEIRUT, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Yemen, a land of startling beauty and often engaging people, has gained an evil public image since an al Qaeda group based there claimed a failed Dec. 25 attack on a U.S. airliner. But the West and its Arab allies should not just focus on fighting terrorism if they are to help the southern Arabian nation stifle the threat from militants exploiting internal conflicts, poverty and weak central authority, analysts say. "The West must adopt a ‘whole of government’ approach that sets immediate counter-terrorism objectives within a broader framework that attempts to tackle longer-term economic pressures and reduce political tensions," said Yemen expert Ginny Hill. That would require a united Western position, support from Yemen’s Arab neighbours and a willing and able partner in Yemen, Hill, author of a Chatham House paper on Yemen, told Reuters. The United States and its allies meet in London on Wednesday to discuss how to combat militancy and promote reform in Yemen, ruled for nearly 32 years by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, 67. How foreign powers interact with the wily Yemeni leader is delicate for both sides, whose interests only partly overlap. Keen to harness U.S. support and funding, Saleh has sought to paint his internal foes — northern tribal rebels and disgruntled southerners — as all somehow linked to al Qaeda. Yemeni analyst Abdul-Ghani Iryani acknowledged that the role played by former jihadi Tareq al-Fadhli in the southern movement "further legitimises government diversion of counter-terrorism funding to quell the legitimate protests of the south". But he identified Yemen’s main problem as poor governance. "The war against al Qaeda cannot be won without disarming it of its main recruiting tool: injustice, lack of the rule of law and the massive corruption that has impoverished the majority of the population," Iryani said. About 42 percent of Yemen’s 23 million people live on less than $2 a day, the World Bank says. The riyal sank to its lowest level in years this week. Revenue from dwindling oil output fell 70 percent in Jan-Oct 2009. New gas exports cannot fill the gap. The population is set to double in 20 years, but jobs are already scarce and water resources are collapsing. CRIPPLING CONFLICTS The conflict with Zaidi Shi’ite tribesmen in the north has killed thousands and displaced around 200,000 people since 2004. It drains state finances, even though Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s main donor, began fighting the rebels on its border in November. "The Yemeni government cannot do a lot about al Qaeda unless it resolves the war in the north and the secessionist movement in the south," said Abdullah al-Faqih, a political scientist at Sanaa University. "These two conflicts provide al Qaeda with the environment to flourish and move freely." Donors will be wary of throwing more money at Yemen, which has managed to spend only a fraction of the $5 billion pledged at a 2006 conference, at least without tight supervision. "You can’t just give aid to the government to do what it likes. Money can go into the pockets of officials," said Faqih. Western countries may have no choice but to work with the Yemeni president, especially on counter-terrorism, but some recognise that tackling economic and social troubles is vital. "The root causes of conflict in Yemen are a lack of governance and of delivery of services by the state," Ivan Lewis, a British minister of state, told parliament this week. Many Yemenis, citing past U.S. inconstancy in Afghanistan, Pakistan and their own country, fear Western interest is fickle. "There is growing concern within Yemen that if the al Qaeda threat were to go away, U.S. aid would also go away," said Gregory Johnsen, a Yemen specialist at Princeton University. He said foreign donors were concerned at how Saleh and other powerful figures might use aid for their own domestic political purposes, rather than for what the West wants to accomplish, and had "valid concerns" about human rights and corruption in Yemen. Cooperating overtly with the United States also carries risks for Saleh, who suffered a public backlash after a U.S. drone strike killed an al Qaeda leader on Yemeni soil in 2002. "It’s a balancing act for both sides," Johnsen said. Wealthier Arab neighbours have also grown more worried about instability in Yemen spilling out into the world’s top oil-exporting region and some of its busiest shipping lanes. But the six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have long kept Yemen at arm’s length, refusing to include it in their club and expelling its migrant workers, a vital source of foreign exchange, said London-based Saudi analyst Mai Yamani. Yemeni officials say one way to alleviate their country’s plight is to encourage Gulf states to take in Yemeni workers and to improve their skills with more vocational training at home. "Yemen is in many ways the victim of these countries," Yamani said. "And it continues to be a severe threat to them."

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Yemen needs security assistance from the United States and other allies to help combat al Qaeda militants, but only economic rescue can ensure success in the long term, Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi said on Wednesday.

The impoverished Arab country has drawn close international scrutiny since a Yemen-based al Qaeda wing said it was behind a botched December 25 attempt to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner.

“Our security agencies are capable of tackling terrorist threats,” Qirbi told Reuters in response to emailed questions, adding that anti-terrorism and coastguard units needed outside support in training, equipment and exchange of intelligence.

“However, a security or military solution is not sufficient. So the international community has to pay more attention to the economic and development needs of Yemen and this is the concrete approach for tackling terrorism,” Qirbi said.

By Alistair Lyon, Special Correspondent

(Reuters) – A foiled attack on a U.S. airliner has crystallized global fears about al Qaeda in Yemen, an Arab state verging on collapse in a region that includes oil giant Saudi Arabia and one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

The Nigerian accused of attempting the December 25 airliner bombing is thought to have been on a mission organized by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which is exploiting instability in Yemen to launch attacks in the region and beyond.

Islamist militancy is only one of myriad economic and security challenges facing President Ali Abdullah Saleh.