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Yemen's alliances with Salafists in internal war cause trouble
Even as it fights a U.S.-supported war against al-Qaeda militants here, the Yemeni government is engaging Islamist extremists who share an ideology similar to Osama bin Laden's in its own civil war, adding new complications to efforts to fight terrorism. Yemen's army is allying with radical Sunnis and former jihadists in the fight against Shiite rebels in the country's north. The harsh tactics of those forces, such as destroying Shiite mosques and building Sunni ones, are breeding resentment among many residents, analysts said, and given the tangle of evolving allegiances could build support for al-Qaeda's Yemeni branch, which plotted the Christmas Day attempt to bomb a U.S. airliner. The alliance with the Sunni radicals is one of the most vivid examples of the tangled loyalties within Yemen's fragile government and raises concerns about the nation's long-term commitment to U.S. goals to eliminate al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemeni branch. Those entanglements are evident even at the highest levels of the government, including President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the second most powerful man in Yemen, Ali Muhsin, who commands the armed forces fighting the rebels. Muhsin, responsible for deploying the Sunni fighters, follows the ultraconservative brand of Sunni Islam known as Salafism. Salafists follow a strict interpretation of the Koran. Many reject violence, but hard-liners, including bin Laden and al-Qaeda followers, see Salafist codes as justification for targeting the West and its allies. Jihadism and radical Islam have tenacious roots in Yemen, and Saleh has long aligned himself with Salafists and ex-jihadists, to assert authority and deepen his grip on power. "The Salafists and al-Qaeda are like the two faces of the moon," said Muhammad al-Mutawakil, a political science professor at Sanaa University. "The Salafists are the light face and al-Qaeda is the dark face. They have the same culture." Saleh's patronage of Salafists has helped fuel Islamist extremism in Yemen, the Arab world's poorest nation. Senior military, security and religious figures in the country are widely thought to be Salafi sympathizers, some with past links to bin Laden. Some are exercising their authority to limit the U.S.-Yemen relationship. Posted by: ryuge 2010-02-11 |
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