Yemen presents challenge to US

Associated Press

SAN’A, Yemen

Corruption, an inefficient security force and an intoxicating plant that keeps most men in Yemen high for up to six hours a day all stand in the way of America’s battle against al-Qaida’s Yemen wing, which is believed responsible for a plot to mail bombs to the United States.

The plot to send parcels packed with explosives to two Chicago-area synagogues underlined the creativity of the Yemen-based militants as they try to penetrate the West’s anti-terror defenses, taking advantage of a culture of impunity at home as well as the relatively relaxed security on cargo flights. The terror network has in the past largely targeted commercial flights, including a failed Christmas Day attempt to blow up a passenger jet as it landed in Detroit.

“This is a whole new approach. We haven’t seen al-Qaida resort to this kind of tactic,” said Riad Kahwaji, head of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, a Dubai-based think tank. “On the Yemeni side, they’ll have a lot to answer for to regain their credibility.”

Yemeni authorities smarted at the criticism and announced they had arrested a woman and were searching for other al-Qaida linked suspects. Investigators also checked some two dozen other suspicious packages in the capital, San’a, and questioned cargo workers at the city’s international airport as well as employees of the local shipping companies contracted to work with FedEx and UPS.

But life in San’a reflects some of the challenges faced by anyone trying to isolate and ultimately destroy a terror group that uses religion as both ideology and for recruitment.

Women in public wear flowing black robes and cover their heads except for a narrow slit for the eyes. Many of the men are bearded, a hallmark of piety, and in robes with an ornamental dagger tucked in a belt.

Weapons are everywhere, with some estimates claiming that Yemenis hold about 50 million firearms ranging from city dwellers with AK-47 assault rifles to tribesmen in rural areas with rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine-guns and mortars that they use at will against security forces or in tribal feuds.