A White House spokesman said Jan. 5 that the US government will suspend transfers of Guantánamo Bay detainees to Yemen. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs made the announcement at his daily briefing amid increasing political pressure not to transfer any more detainees to Yemen after it was revealed that the man who attempted to detonate an explosive device on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 last month received al-Qaeda training in Yemen.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and US President Barack Obama have agreed to fund a special counter-terrorism police unit in Yemen to tackle the rising threat from the country. The announcement comes as the US and UK shut their embassies in Yemen's capital Sana Dec. 3, the US State Department citing unspecified but "ongoing threats by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," the regional franchise of the terror network. The closures came a day after a quiet visit to Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh by Gen. David H. Petraeus, the US regional commander, who delivered a message from Obama of support for Yemen's unity and counter-terrorism efforts. (Press TV, NYT, Jan. 3)

The senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), says he has information the suspect in the apparent thwarted Christmas Day terrorism attempt may have had contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemen-based radical imam with ties to the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings. The incident on Northwest Airlines flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit "definitely appears to be al-Qaeda-related," King said. "This was not a firecracker. This was for real." (Bloomberg, Dec. 26)

A group of 34 al-Qaeda militants were killed and 17 others were arrested by special operations in Abyan province, Sana'a city and Arhab district in Yemen, authorities announced Dec. 17. Warplanes reportedly carried out air-strikes against an al-Qaeda training camp in al-Ma'jala area of Abyan governorate, while safe houses were raided in Sana'a, the capital. (Yemen Observer, Dec. 17)

Yemeni authorities should stop using unjustified lethal force against protesters and end attacks on the media in southern Yemen, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Dec. 14. The 73-page report, "In the Name of Unity: The Yemeni Government's Brutal Response to Southern Movement Protests," documents attacks by security forces on supporters of the so-called Southern Movement as well as on journalists, academics, and other opinion-makers.

Saudi Arabian warplanes bombed a market in Bani Maan village in Yemen killing 70 civilians, rebels in the north of the country said Dec. 14. The rebels, known as Houthis, have accused the Saudis of several cross-border raids. Additionally, Iran's Press TV, citing claims on the rebels' Almenpar website, reported that US fighter jets took part in the air-raids in the northwestern province of Sa'ada. (BBC News, Press TV, Dec. 14)

Human rights conditions in 12 Arab nations continued to deteriorate last year, according to a report issued Dec. 9 by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS). The publication, entitled "Bastion of Impunity, Mirage of Reform," is the group's second annual report. It condemns violations of human rights, including those against political and reform activists. According to the report, Iraq continues to be the region's worst offender despite "relative improvements," while Egypt, Morocco, and Bahrain are identified as having regressed significantly since last year.

Egypt has become a police state where citizens receive no protection from torture, human rights groups said in a report published Dec. 3. "The basic feature of human rights in Egypt today is the prevalence of a policy of exception in which those responsible for violations usually escape punishment amid a climate of impunity intentionally created and fostered for several decades," said the report by 16 Egyptian human rights groups.