Fighting terrorism a tough mission in Yemen
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After Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula(AQAP), the Al Qaeda Yemen branch, claimed the responsibility for the failed Christmas day bombing of a U.S.-bound flight, Yemen, one of the world's poorest countries, has become a focus of the fight on terrorism.
Western countries including the United States and Britain have stepped up their efforts to fight terrorism in the country.
Analysts noted, however, that it will be extremely hard for the Yemeni government, along with the United States, Britain and other Western countries, to eradicate Al Qaeda and its influence in a short time without removing the underlying historical and practical factors that turned Yemen into a hotbed of terrorism.
Anti-separatism overwhelms anti-terrorism
Since the 1960s, Yemen has plagued by separatism and civil wars. Although large-scale civil wars have ended, the fallout of long-term chaos still lingered on. Frequent armed conflicts threatened the nation's security and weakened central government's control over local authorities.
Besides, to the Yemeni government, anti-terrorism is an international issue rather than an issue of any individual country. Lacking incentive in the fight on terrorism, the government has adopted a policy of pacification toward Al Qaeda, which gained a foothold in Yemen and turned the country into its training and operation base.
While there were media reports that the United States and Britain may send troops to fight terrorism in Yemen, it is widely believed that major powers such as the United States is unable to launch military intervention in Yemen.
Besides, deploying U.S. troops in Yemen will meet opposition by the Yemeni government, or worse enrage local radical groups.
Therefore, increasing their anti-terrorism assistance to Yemen seems a feasible option for the United States and Britain at the moment.
In the fiscal year 2009, Washington sharply increased its anti-terrorism assistance to Yemen to 67 million dollars, three times as much as its 2008 figure of 20 million dollars. In addition, the U.S. State Department announced a plan to provide a development assistance of 63 million dollars to Yemen in the fiscal year 2010.
However, in view of Yemen's tough fight on terror, analysts say the money is still insufficient.
Widespread poverty and weakened government control over remote areas of the country enabled Al Qaeda to infiltrate into Yemen. Al-Qaeda reportedly managed to recruite young people through some economic incentives such as offering them jobs in its clandestine enterprises.
Yemen is also one of the countries with largest numbers of civilian-owned guns in the world, giving terrorists easy access to arms.
Yemen, a country with a population of some 21 million, has more than 60 million privately owned guns. The country has 18 large-scale weapon markets and hundreds of weapon stores.
Yemen, a pretty young state, is largely a union of tribal societies. People are more loyal to tribal or religious leaders than to the state. Some terrorist groups use underground religious schools to recruit youths and disseminate extreme religious ideas.
Yemeni government officials have warned that if the Yemeni government failed to take resolute measures, underground religious schools would plunge Yemeni youths into a disaster and tens of thousands of Yemen youths could become tools of terrorists in the future.
Yemen's unique geographical terrain also provides a natural refuge for terrorists. A vast part of Yemen is plateau and desert, which is hard to get access to. The country also has a long, loosely-monitored border and coastline.
The 1,800-km Yemeni-Saudi border has been a major transit route for terrorists and weapons smugglers. Yemen also has a 1,900-km coastline and is facing Somalia, Jibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia across the Aden Gulf. The gulf is notorious for rampant piracy and human smuggling. A large number of refugees, including some extremists, have entered Yemen illegally from these countries.
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