LONDON, April 14 (UPI) -- London is on the verge of signing a deal that would allow Jews persecuted by Islamists in Yemen to move to Europe.
The potential agreement comes after "months of painstaking negotiations" between Britain's Foreign Office and the Yemeni government, Britain's The Independent newspaper writes.
Yemeni Jews in the north of the country are facing attacks by Houthi rebels, who rule the country's border region with Saudi Arabia.
Selected Yemeni Jews with British relatives may now be evacuated to Britain under tourist visas, the newspaper writes. They could then apply for asylum in Britain.
In a similar move, the U.S. State Department airlifted more than 100 Yemeni Jews to the United States last year.
A violence-torn country, Yemen is under pressure to contain the Houthis in the north, a secessionist movement in the south and a rising al-Qaida presence throughout the country. The fighting in Yemen has displaced an estimated 250,000 people.
The United States is worried about growing instability in the country after Al-Qaida's Yemeni branch claimed responsibility for the failed bombing of a U.S. passenger jet on Christmas Day.
Western leaders fear Yemen could collapse from the multi-tiered threat, establishing the country as the new base for al-Qaida.
