Legal Commentary

London Yemen Conference Begins at 1:00 pm ET

By Jeralyn

The London Conference on Yemen begins at 1800 GMT. that's 1pm ET. The UK is streaming it live here. The meeting is being chaired by UK Foreign Secretary David Milbrand and will cover three themes:

• discussions of the challenges facing Yemen, including the drivers of radicalisation and instability, and agreement that a comprehensive approach is needed to address them
• greater impetus to the political and economic reform agenda, including urgent and concrete action by the Government of Yemen; and
• improved international coordination and support towards Yemen.

[More...]

A policy statement on the UK Foreign Office website says:

We believe that Yemen’s problems, including security and instability, can be resolved only by a comprehensive set of measures to strengthen the economy, provide education and jobs, improve services and effective social support for the poor, and provide security and fair, transparent and comprehensive rule of law.

The Washington Post reports those in attendance are not contemplating more aid to Yemen:

Delegates at the two-hour talks in London - which include the World Bank and International Monetary Fund - won't pledge any new funds, but instead will offer to help Yemen spend $5 billion donated in 2006, most of which remains untouched.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in London. In the first several hours since her plane landed, she's had meetings with the Russian Foreign Minister, Indonesian Foreign Minister and Turkish Foreign Minister. You can follow her schedule at the State Department's Dipnote twitter feed. After London, she heads to Paris.

On a related note, the Washington Post reports the U.S. has been more deeply involved in recent Yemen military strikes than previously thought.

The operations, approved by President Obama and begun six weeks ago, involve several dozen troops from the U.S. military's clandestine Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), whose main mission is tracking and killing suspected terrorists. The American advisers do not take part in raids in Yemen, but help plan missions, develop tactics and provide weapons and munitions.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on January 27, 2010 (boomark / email).