TERRORISM

A federal judge on Friday entered a not guilty plea on behalf of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian accused of an attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound jetliner that has prompted a sweeping review of U.S. security procedures.

President Barack Obama took ultimate responsibility on Thursday for security failures that led to the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. airliner and ordered reforms aimed at thwarting future attacks.

A Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a U.S.-bound plane on Christmas Day was recruited by al Qaeda in London and met a radical American Muslim cleric in Yemen, a senior Yemeni official said on Thursday.

U.S. President Barack Obama is not patient and is demanding immediate changes in airline security, the top U.S. military officer said on Wednesday, as a grand jury indicted the Nigerian man for trying to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day.

Yemen has stepped up a campaign to root out al Qaeda militants after the group's Yemen-based wing said it was behind a December 25 attempt to bomb a U.S. airliner.

Yemeni forces surrounded a suspected al Qaeda regional leader in a house near the capital after earlier arresting three militants wounded in a raid, security sources said, as the country cracked down on militancy.

The attempted Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. airliner was a potentially disastrous screw up by the intelligence community, President Barack Obama said on Tuesday as he vowed urgent action to tighten air security.

President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that U.S. intelligence agencies had enough information to possibly thwart an attempt to destroy a jet bound for Detroit on Christmas day.

Yemen has launched an offensive against al Qaeda and the U.S. embassy in Sanaa reopened on Tuesday after security forces staged a raid just outside the capital that dealt with an imminent security threat

The American embassy in Yemen reopened on Tuesday after a raid near Sanaa that killed two al Qaeda militants addressed specific security concerns that had forced U.S. and European missions to close, the embassy said.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said instability in Yemen posed a global threat and pledged on Monday to plug any holes in U.S. security procedures after a Christmas Day airline bombing attempt.

A top White House official said on Sunday the plot to bomb a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day exposed errors but he played down the need for a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. security system.

A young Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up a U.S. plane on Christmas Day was not deeply religious when he arrived in Yemen in 2004 but evolved into a devoted follower of Islam, a former teacher said.

Yemeni forces fought al Qaeda militants on Monday, killing at least two they said were behind security threats which forced the U.S. embassy and other foreign missions to close.

A bomb attack in northwest Pakistan killed a former minister on Sunday, officials said, keeping up pressure on a government struggling to contain a raging Taliban insurgency and stabilise the country.

The United States has indications al Qaeda is planning an attack against a target in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, a senior aide to President Barack Obama said on Sunday.

The United States and Britain closed their embassies in Yemen on Sunday over security concerns about possible militant attacks after the failed bombing of a U.S.-bound plane on Christmas Day.

The Obama administration on Saturday zeroed in on al Qaeda as the driving force behind an attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas and promised again to hold accountable those involved in the failed atta

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday it appeared the man suspected of trying to bomb a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas was a member of al Qaeda and had been trained and equipped by the Islamic militant network.

The United States will more than double its security assistance for Yemen and Britain will host an international meeting this month to seek ways of preventing the poorest Arab state from becoming an al Qaeda stronghold.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has invited key international partners to a meeting to discuss how to counter radicalisation in Yemen after last week's failed attack on a U.S.-bound plane, his office said on Friday.