Things are heating up in Yemen. Even though US President Barack Obama has pledged not to send troops to fight a resurgent Al Qaeda there, a group of leading Yemeni clerics has warned of jihad in case of foreign intervention.
Led by Abdulmajeed Al Zindani, an influential figure courted by the government for his authority among the country’s religious groups, a strongly worded edict was issued on Thursday. The clerics have voiced concern over what they perceive as a US agenda to occupy their country for vested interests. Besides opposing military intervention, including covert attacks, the group has come down hard upon the January 27 London conference called by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to discuss Yemen. The clerics view the event as “aggression against Yemenis” aimed at paving the way for foreign occupation of the country. It is clear that they are loathe to intervention in Yemen’s internal matters.
The warning follows comments made by the Chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levine, in which he urged targeting ‘Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’, an umbrella organisation that brings together Al Qaeda operatives from Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Levin suggested drone and other airstrikes and in covert operations. Such measures, while falling short of the boots-on-ground concept, still amount to clear military intervention, the very thing the clerics have opposed. While Yemen has already been subjected to a covert drone strike in 2002 targeting a high-level Al Qaeda operative, the country is far from accepting of such measures.
The growing influence of the terrorist organisation as a regional entity has seen the launch of regional and international attacks in Saudi Arabia and the foiled US airliner bombing by Nigerian national Umer Farouk Abdulmuttalab.
Also, the establishment of a Gulf-Africa terror linkage with affiliated groups in Somalia has set off international concern. President Ali Abdullah Saleh has stepped up the fight against Al Qaeda, previously relegated to the backburner owing to (a) hibernation of the group and (b) other political problems posed by separatists in the South and Shia rebels in the North. Saleh, while urging Yemenis to abstain from supporting Al Qaeda, had also offered a conditional dialogue to its leadership.
It is imperative for the government in Sanaa to retain the support of its clerics, especially Zindani, a former spiritual mentor of Osama bin Laden. Any alliance with the US, even on a covert basis, is likely to be wrongly perceived and may divert this crucial support to Al Qaeda.
An alternate view of the latest development is that the government may be secretly supporting the clerical stand to keep US intervention at bay. Sanaa is under criticism from the US on its lacklustre counter-terrorism policy and protecting certain key figures known for their radical teachings. It is also under pressure from outside to alleviate political suppression and address the grievances of its disparate groups.
The challenge for Saleh will be to maintain the balance. While the fight against Al Qaeda is important, it must be waged in the national interest and with the support of the influential groups and tribes.
Mohammed Abbasi 