The Next Somalia?

Most of us would be hard-pressed to locate Yemen on a map. Somewhere at the bottom of the Arabian peninsula? The majority of the Jewish population left for Israel back in 1949/50 against an atmosphere of increasing anti-Jewish violence. Recently the few remaining Jews have been under threat from militant Islamists. 

Now in an article in Lebanon's Daily Star, Yemeni expert Brian O'Neill argues that the place is fast heading towards breakdown, in danger of following the example of Somalia as a failed state, with a toxic brew of internal conflicts and a new generation of Al-Qaeda-inspired leaders: a place "racked by terrorism and rebellion":

The new generation of Al-Qaeda leaders is also more talented and more ambitious. In January 2009, Al-Qaeda affiliates in Saudi Arabia and Yemen merged into Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), headquartered in Yemen.... The group carried out a series of successful attacks, but the most shocking one came in August: a suicide bomb attack in Riyadh [the "arse-bomber"] that very nearly killed Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Nayif, who orchestrated Saudi Arabia’s campaign against Al-Qaeda. The bomber was on Saudi Arabia’s most wanted terrorist list and was hiding in Yemen. This shows AQAP’s institutional growth, reach, boldness, regional ambition, and perhaps most unnerving, its patience. The group’s new leaders are content to strike when they are able, and meanwhile to let the government struggle with its other problems.

For those of us unfamiliar with the country's internal politics the details are possibly more than we need, but the message is clear enough: Yemen may soon start appearing in news bulletins with a good deal more regularity than heretofore. 

Comments

[SnoopyTheGoon]

Both Somalia and Yemen in fundies' hands makes a bad geopolitical situation even worse, if you look at the map. Bad indeed.