The new Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir David Richards, has ruled out military intervention in Yemen following the recent airline security alerts.

But Sir David, who today takes over as the head of the British armed forces, told Today presenter Sarah Montague that the country must not become the next Afghanistan.

But he added: "Clearly the Yemini government doesn't believe it needs our help and they're extremely onside - like most Islamic nations are actually.

"So I think our role is to remain very close to them, to help them where they most need it and in the meanwhile focus our efforts on Afghanistan and assisting Pakistan to make sure that they don't become the threat that Yemen is clearly beginning to be."

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