The British government announced Sunday that Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Barack Obama have agreed to back a counterterrorism police unit in Yemen to tackle the rising al Qada threat from the country. According to the AP, Brown's statement said London and Washington decided to "intensify joint US-UK work to tackle the emerging terrorist threat from both Yemen and Somalia" in the wake of the failed Detroit terror plot.
"Amongst the initiatives the PM has agreed with President Obama is US-UK funding for a special counter-terrorism police unit in Yemen," the statement said.
The statement added that Britain is already helping to train Yemeni counter-terrorism officials, but a U.K. government spokeswoman said this is the first time the counter-terrorism police units have been confirmed. The spokeswoman said Britain is forecast to give more than 100 million pounds ($161 million) to Yemen in 2011.
In Washington, a senior administration official said American and British forces already provide the Yemeni police counterterrorism assistance.
