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Yemen should not become failed state: experts
[Al Arabiya] The world community faces an uphill battle to help prevent Yemen from becoming a failed state like Somalia
Highlighting the global stakes this week were attacks on both British and French targets in Yemen and a visit to Sanaa by William Burns, the undersecretary for political affairs and number three U.S. diplomat. The world has taken an even keener interest in Yemen since a botched bid on Christmas Day to blow up a U.S. airliner over Detroit by a Nigerian passenger allegedly trained by the Yemeni-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). "The world cannot afford Yemen becoming a failed state a la Somalia," said Bruce Riedel, a Brookings Institution analyst who has advised the B.O. regime on Yemen and other counter-terrorism issues. "One failed state on the Gulf of Aden is bad enough," Riedel told AFP. "Two failed states on the Gulf of Aden with al-Qaeda operating in both of them would be a very dangerous situation since the Gulf of Aden is where the world's energy resources sail through every day," he said.
In Yemen, AQAP "has a robust and resilient capability," Riedel said. Not only has it staged dozens of attacks in Yemen this year -- mainly on security forces but also on foreigners -- its senior leadership has also withstood Yemeni search-and-destroy missions, Riedel told AFP. Though its capacity to launch attacks abroad remains unclear, he said, charismatic Yemeni-American holy man Anwar al-Awlaki appears to be a major threat because of his ability to recruit Americans for jihad. Posted by: Fred 2010-10-08 |
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