UN chief expresses concern over security in Yemen

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern at the deteriorating security situation in the Arabian Peninsula country.

He said an upcoming international conference on Yemen will focus on fighting "terrorism" and helping more than 150-thousand internal refugees flee an escalating conflict in the north.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for the high-level meeting later this month to devise ways to counter radicalization in Yemen.

Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General, said, "This situation in Yemen has much broader regional implications in our common struggle to fight against international terrorism. We are going to discuss broader aspects of the situation in Yemen. As far as we are concerned we have several areas of concern, first of all stability and security are deteriorating in Yemen and there is a serious question of how we can fight against international terrorism."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon attends a news conference at the Presidential Residence in Helsinki May 26, 2009. REUTERS/LEHTIKUVA