YEMEN: Al-Qaeda Resurgence Feared

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Nabil Sultan

SANA'A, Nov 20 2006 (IPS) - Attacks by the ‘al-Qaeda in Yemen’ have created new worries for the government, that has close links with the U.S. administration.

The ‘al-Qaeda in Yemen’ attacked two oil facilities Sep. 15, five days before the presidential elections in which President Ali Abdullah Saleh faced his first real competition before winning.

The group vowed further attacks, and this has led to heightened security measures and fears of a spread of terrorist groups.

Saleh said in his election campaign that “any organisation that tries to target the national economy and stability will be crushed by Yemeni security forces.”

After Saleh won the presidential race to rule Yemen for seven more years, the Political Security Forces intensified their hunt for the terrorist cell behind the attacks.

Early this month, the security forces raided two houses in capital Sana’a, killing two suspected al-Qaeda members Fawaz al-Rabeei and Mohammad al-Dailami. The two had escaped from the Political Security Organisation prison in Sana’a in February, and were held responsible for the attacks on the oil facilities.

On Nov. 8, an Internet statement attributed to the ‘al-Qaeda in Yemen’ claimed responsibility for the suicide attacks.

The statement, posted on www.ansar-jihad.net vowed further attacks on foreign interests in Yemen and against U.S. allies. It said the attacks were “only the first spark.”

The Yemeni government said “the security forces will strike with an iron fist and would relentlessly deal with every terrorist who harms Yemen, its economy or interests.” The statement added that the attacks were carried out on the orders of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

“Yemen knows more than any other country how to firmly tackle these terrorist elements and how to foil their criminal plans,” the official statement said.

The alleged al-Qaeda statement has raised many questions about the presence of al-Qaeda in Yemen. Not everybody believes that the statement is authentic, but few deny at least that groups inspired by al-Qaeda are now becoming active.

“The statement showed that al-Qaeda cells are regrouping in Yemen,” Abdul-Elah Haider Shaie, writer and specialist on terrorism told IPS.

“The statement suggests an organised state of al-Qaeda and it also suggests that al-Qaeda associates are recovering after 23 of them escaped from prison early this year,” said Haidar. “The statement’s wording is not different from those issued by al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, so I think the statement is genuine and credible.”

Haidar also sees a connection between the presidential elections and the attacks. “Al-Qaeda warned the government not to follow American democracy, so I think it wanted to deliver a message through the attacks,” he said.

Political commentator Fadhel Mubarak said that “if the statement is genuine, this will pose a new threat to Yemen, which has a lot of problems to face, and is trying to improve its image to get investments and help from other countries.”

He said the two operations and threats of more attacks indicate that new cells of al-Qaeda have been generated.

Not every charge of an al-Qaeda hand has proved convincing. Uncertainty continues over the case of eight foreign nationals and 15 Yemenis arrested in October over alleged links to a suspected al-Qaeda plot to smuggle small arms to Somalia.

Security sources announced Nov. 5 that one suspect, a German, was released after it was established that he had no links with al-Qaeda.

Early official statements claimed that all eight foreign suspects “were studying at Sheikh Abdul-Majid al-Zindani’s Al-Iman Religious University.” Sheikh al-Zindani, wanted by the United States for alleged relations with al-Qaeda, denied any connection between his University and the arrested suspects.

The recent attacks have revived memories of the suicide attacks on the destroyer USS Cole in 2000 and on the French supertanker Limburg in 2002. Al-Qaeda had praised those attacks.