The British prime minister's decision to call an international summit on Yemen is widely reported this morning. It appears to have support from the US and the EU, and there are suggestions that Saudia Arabia and other Gulf states may get involved.

The talks will be held in London on 28 January, alongside a conference on the future of Afghanistan.

News reports suggest the meeting will focus primarily on tackling al-Qaeda's presence in Yemen, though a Downing Street statement cited by the BBC also talks of "tackling radicalisation through aid and reform".

I'm not convinced that Gordon Brown and Hillary Clinton fully appreciate the nature of the problems in Yemen and a mis-judged approach could make things worse rather than better. But I'll probably have more to say about that in a few days.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 2 January 2010.