Yemen's media, particularly those associated with the government, have their own perspective on a Yemen-based suspect's failed attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner on 25 December, and the subsequent claim of responsibility by Al-Qa'idah in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
The airline plot was virtually ignored by official or pro-government sources, apart from a few passing references in reports by the state-run news agency Saba.
Similarly, the temporary closure of a number of Western embassies received little coverage, except for a few reports of their reopening once the security situation had been "fully secured".
Gordon Brown's announcement of an international meeting on Yemen in London at the end of January has been reported in terms of the potential for economic development as much as the counter-terrorism angle.So Yemeni TV on 4 January quoted an official as saying that the conference was an opportunity "to inform the donor countries about the nature of the vast economic and development challenges that Yemen is facing". Two days later, meetings between the Yemeni foreign minister and the British and US ambassadors were covered in two 30-second reports on the TV news which referred only to "security and economic difficulties".
When AQAP has been mentioned in Yemen's media, it has often been in the context of successful operations by the national security forces. For example, Saba on 3 January published a 3,000-word report on "recent deadly operations" against the organisation, which had "demonstrated the strength and ability of the security forces to protect the homeland's gains and preserving its security and stability".
Other references to AQAP have been implied rather than explicit. So the state-run Yemeni TV's evening news bulletin on 2 January led with the story that President Ali Abdallah Salih had received the head of US Central Command, Gen David Petraeus, saying that the US general was carrying a message from President Obama on security cooperation - and that he had congratulated Salih on the success of operations against "Al-Qa'idah hideouts".
In security terms, the Yemeni media appears to view the AQAP issue as ranking lower in importance than the continuing military offensive against Huthi rebels in the north of the country and a simmering separatist movement in the south, both of which receive considerably more attention, especially in the newspapers and on news websites.
An editorial in the government-owned daily Al-Thawrah on 5 January showed some irritation with recent Arab and international media coverage. Under the headline "Yemen is doing well!", the editorial criticised foreign media "exaggeration" and said that nothing would "impair the stability of the Yemeni people and Yemen's guests, including diplomats and foreigners".
Steve Metcalf is a Media Analyst with BBC Monitoring
