3:41PM (AEST) Rudd concerned about Yemen and Syria FOREIGN Minister Kevin Rudd says he is gravely concerned about deteriorating security situations in Yemen and Syria.
FOREIGN Minister Kevin Rudd says he is gravely concerned about deteriorating security situations in Yemen and Syria.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh this week took on emergency powers to strengthen his hand against a pro-democracy uprising in his impoverished nation.
Security forces shot dead more than 50 demonstrators in the capital Sanaa last week but the bloodshed has only hardened the protesters' resolve to end Saleh's 32-year rule.
Mr Rudd condemned the violence and said the Australian government was "gravely concerned" about the developments.
Prolonged political instability in Yemen could create fertile ground for terrorist organisations to flourish, Mr Rudd told federal parliament today.
"The absence of a well-functioning government will serve to further entrench the terrorists' freedom of action and their possible enmeshment with opposition political forces," he said.
Mr Rudd said the government was also deeply concerned about developments in Syria, where security forces have killed at least nine demonstrators in the southern city of Daraa.
"Syrian authorities must exercise all restraint in responding to peaceful protest activity," Mr Rudd said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade urges Australians not to travel to Yemen. It urges them to exercise a high degree of caution in Syria.
Mr Rudd said the unrest in both countries was part of the "tectonic change" sweeping through the Middle East.
"Just as the beginning of these protests and revolutions could not be predicted, neither can their end.
"The future of the region is unclear."
Mr Rudd said the international no-fly zone over Libya - of which he was a leading advocate - was making progress.
"But the situation is fluid," he warned.
"The operation underway is complex and difficult."
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said the international community - including Australia - had to decide what to do about Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi.
"Having gone into Libya the international community must now decide in what circumstances and under what conditions it will get out," she said.
