Global Arab Network | Yemen faces Al-Qaeda sympathizers not the group itself, says official

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Yemen faces Al-Qaeda sympathizers not the group itself, says official

- Ahmed Gamal

Monday, 21 December 2009 13:33

yemen_brigadier_Yehia_Mohammed_Abdallah_Saleh

Yemen faces Al-Qaeda sympathizers as main probem rather than with Al-Qaeda itself, says an Yemeni brigadier.
The Yemeni Chief of Staff in the Central Security Forces told BBC Arabic TV in an exclusive interview: “the problem that Yemen is facing remains with Al-Qaeda sympathizers rather than with Al-Qaeda itself.”

"Al-Qaeda takes the Americans presence in Iraq as a pretext", said brigadier Yehia Mohammed Abdallah Saleh, and that "Al-Qaeda's religious prologue pretending to target Zionism in Palestine aims only at enlisting popular support".

Regarding the government's priority if it had to choose between fighting Al-Qaeda operatives or its ideology, Brigadier Saleh pointed out that "a special security unit that combines both anti-terrorism and public safety responsibilities has been created". "Al-Qaeda needs to be confronted on many levels, so as to counter balance their rhetoric as well as their economical and intellectual endeavors. This can be achieved through protecting human rights and democracy, and then standing up to Al-Qaeda militarily".

Whether or not he considered Yemen to be feeble, the military commander said "Al-Qaeda is trying to weaken Yemen thinking it could operate unchecked if it cooperated with the Huthies to undermine the country". He also appealed for international support to empower Sana'a "not only for the sake of Yemen but the entire Gulf region".

According to Yemen News Agency (Saba), the Yemeni Interior Ministry has ordered its bodies and offices in all governorates to raise security alert and tighten defence procedures at the important facilities and vital interests all over the country.

The directives also urged the security leaders in the governorate to evaluate performance persistently bodies and inspect directly the checkpoints, patrols and escorts in order to enhance stability and security in the country.

The precautionary measures came after the anti-terrorism troops launched in the early hours of Thursday air and ground raids against al-Qaeda hideouts and training sites in Abyan in the south and in Sana'a in the north killing and arresting about 51 al Qaeda suspects including some 'would-be suiciders'.

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