The Following piece is written by a Yemeni-based journalist who writes for Foreign Policy Association (FPA) and, due to serious security concerns, remains anonymous.
As unrest spreads in the Arabian Peninsula nation of Yemen, tribal Sheikhs have decided to take matters in their own hands and fight the threat posed by Al Qaeda. Indeed, now that the Saleh government is more preoccupied with asserting its own power over Yemen, Al Qaeda’s fighters have been left free to roam over the land.
Response to Al Qaeda’s Reign of Terror
Under the command of Sheikh Hussein bin Saleh bin Othman, a coalition of tribes have united to defeat the Islamists radicals. About 800 Sheikhs have gathered last week in Azan, Maifa’a region, to manifest their determination to maintain peace within their territories. This is what they had to say: “We told them that they have to leave our land and that we will not be watching them taking over. We are the majority and there is no comparison…”
“The state wants to affect the country negatively and make the world think that Al-Qaeda is a real threat in Yemen so they will financially help (President Ali Abdullah) Saleh fight Al-Qaeda…”
The coalition also accused the President of inciting Al Qaeda’s fighters to attack civilians to destabilize the region, and appear as the only man able to keep the threat of terrorism at bay. The Sheikhs are adamant that the regime is entirely to blame for the resurgence of Al Qaeda’s activities and that only the emergence of a free society would render the radicals irrelevant.
In recent weeks, Saleh decided to recall his Security Forces from Yemen’s Shabwa governorate, which is home to AQAP members. Left to do as they pleased, the radicals started to commit some acts of violence against peaceful villagers.
The Sheikhs, who are mainly responsible for the security and well-fare of their people decided to raise a tribal army of more than 10,000 men to combat the threat posed by the AQAP.
Bin Othman said that it had been fairly easy to identify the “outsiders” as the tribes enjoy such a close net community, where everybody knows everybody.
The coalition has now organized itself by electing a Supreme Council of 20 men, in charge of the daily affairs of the region.
“We managed to expel Al-Qaeda from our area and that is proof that they are urged by the state for political reasons and not Islamic reasons as they claim,” said bin Othman. “If they belong to the real Al-Qaeda then they wouldn’t appear in and out of governorates where no American or British people that they want to attack are allowed. In these places [there is] no one but locals, so who would they attack or fight?” Bin Othman said.
If the State has de facto abandoned all regions of Yemen but the Capital, Sheikhs are clearly playing an important role in administrating and manning the security of their territories. Maybe those who viewed the tribal chiefs as relics of the past are now realizing that they might still have a role to play in the future of the nation.
They actually might hold the very key of Yemen’s social cohesion.
Minister of Religious Affairs Speaks Out
Judge Hamoud al-Hitar, the former Minister of Religious Affairs, who headed the 2006 national dialogue with Al Qaeda, is now denouncing President Saleh’s policies over terrorism.
He said this Friday that the regime was actually promoting terrorism in order to assert his hold on the country and gain international financial support.
“Saleh uses Al-Qaeda to blackmail foreign countries so that he can get more financial support from them. But the reality of Al-Qaeda’s existence in Yemen doesn’t exceed even 10 percent of what the official Yemeni media promotes,”
Ahmed al-Zurqa
Ahmed al-Zurqa who is a political analyst familiar with Al Qaeda, warned of the increasing influence of the group within Yemen, as the nation remains entrenched in political and social tensions.
“The international community and the West in particular are now aware that Al-Qaeda remains a threat to Yemen. They have taken notice of events of the past two weeks and especially after what happened in Ja’ar Province [where Al-Qaeda took control of the presidential complex and state-run radio and looted an official ammunitions factory],” said al-Zurqa.
He also mentioned the fact that the terrorist organization’s main recruits were young men disenchanted with the regime in search of an outlet for their frustrations. According to the analyst, AQAP’s influence and the Saleh regime go hand in hand.
“Al-Qaeda is a now a threat more than what it could be after the regime withdraws. They will lose their social credibility and their sheltered environment and this will reduce their activities,” said al-Zurqa.
Interestingly, as Yemen crisis deepens and as many analysts warn against the collapse of the country, the archaic tribal rules of the Sheikh is working at restoring the rule of Law.
A country which has been often depicted as incapable of fending off the threat of Al Qaeda and which has enjoyed decades of international funding to gear up its security is now proving that the will of the people is more efficient than hardware.
And if ever the US believed that only Saleh could unite Yemen, it forgot that this nation was made of more than one man, and that Yemenis too can dictate their own future.
