US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today said instability in Yemen posed a global threat and pledged to plug any holes in US security procedures after a Christmas Day airline bombing attempt.
Ms Clinton, in her first comments since the attempted December 25th attack on a Detroit-bound plane sparked sharp criticism of the Obama administration's counter-terror policies, said she would discuss additional steps with Mr Obama's security cabinet this week.
"With respect to what happened with the terrorist on the plane coming into Detroit, we are not satisfied," Ms Clinton told reporters following a meeting with visiting Qatar Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani.
"So we will be meeting with the president tomorrow to go over our international reviews, to hear what others in our government also have concluded and to take whatever additional steps are necessary," she said.
White House officials have conceded the Christmas Day bomb plot exposed errors but have played down the need for a top-to-bottom overhaul of the US security system.
Republicans have accused President Barack Obama, who returned on Monday from a Hawaii vacation, and his Democratic administration of being weak on terrorism and unable to fix intelligence gaps that have lingered since the September 11th, 2001, hijacked-plane attacks.
Despite the focus on the failed Dec 25 plot, White House spokesman Bill Burton said he did not expect the issue to keep Mr Obama from addressing jobs, healthcare and the rest of his agenda.
"When you're President of the United States you've got to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time," Mr Burton said.
Reuters