British Prime Minister Gordon Brown today announced a high-level international meeting in London later this month to discuss the threat of extremism in Yemen in the wake of the foiled attempt to bomb a US airliner, according to dpa. The meeting, scheduled for January 28, would coincide with an international conference on Afghanistan being hosted by Britain, according to the Downing Street website. Brown has the backing of Washington and the European Union, his office said. "The international community must not deny Yemen the support it needs to tackle extremism," Brown was quoted as saying on his official website. On Christmas Day, a 23-year-old Nigerian man attempted to detonate explosives onboard a Northwest Airlines plane carrying 278 passengers from Amsterdam to Detroit. He was subdued by other passengers. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab later reportedly claimed the Yemen branch of the al-Qaeda terrorist network set him up with the mission. The Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has since claimed credit for the attack. Abdulmutallab, a former University College London student, claimed the Yemen branch of the al-Qaeda terrorist network set him up with the mission and supplied him with the explosives.
