Britain agrees to work closely with U.S. on Yemen, Somalia terrorist threats

LONDON, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Britain has agreed to continue working hand-in-glove with the United States to tackle the evolving threats of terrorism from Yemen and Somalia, the prime minister's office said on Sunday.

Both Britain and the United States have already provided support and funding to the Yemeni authorities to help in their efforts to combat the terrorist threat. Measures include support for a special counter-terrorist police unit and for the Yemeni coastguard operation.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the BBC on Sunday that Britain has been working closely with the Americans to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation in Yemen.

He said that British support to Yemen is expected to exceed 100million pounds (160 million U.S. dollars) by 2011.

Brown said: "Yemen has been recognized, like Somalia, to be one of the areas we have got to not only keep an eye on, but we've got to do more. So it's strengthening counter-terrorism cooperation, it's working harder on intelligence efforts."

Britain has also been pushing at the UN Security Council for an effective African peacekeeping force in Somalia.

On Friday, Brown announced plans to invite key international partners to a high-level meeting in London which will coincide with a major conference on Afghanistan.

"There is absolutely no doubt that the conference we will have in London in January, with a Yemen element to it, will be an important means by which we will help the Yemeni authorities who are fighting terrorism to develop the means and the will to do this even more," he said.

He has also demanded that the evolving threats from Yemen and Somalia be placed on the agenda for the EU General Affairs Council in January, and he will discuss with counterparts at the next EU Council meeting. In addition, Brown intends to push for stronger action on Yemen from the Financial Action Task Force.

The prime minister has also called a special meeting of the National Security, International Relations and Development (NSID) Cabinet committee to discuss further response to the attempted terror attack last week.

The Committee oversees British security issues and includes security and military chiefs. This week, Brown will hold urgent discussions with foreign secretary, home secretary, defense secretary and senior advisers on intelligence and security, ahead of the NSID meeting.