Yemen teeters on brink of failure

[n2doc]

By Jeffrey Fleishman
December 6, 2009


Reporting from Sana, Yemen - The president's new mosque shimmers over this ancient city like an illusion of stability against images of MIG fighter jets screeching overhead toward rebellion in the north or the latest news of pirates seizing ships in the treacherous Gulf of Aden.

In Sana's snug alleys, men speak of war, secession and Al Qaeda, which is busy scouring schoolyards and mosques for new recruits while much of the population spends hours each day getting a mellow buzz from chewing khat leaves.

If Yemen were a theater, which sometimes it appears to be, it would be an unnerving place of trapdoors and shifting facades. This is the poorest nation in the Arab world and one of the most strategically located, with 3 million barrels of oil sailing daily past its shores, tucked between Saudi Arabia and Somalia.

And it is a teetering mess that some in Washington fear could draw the U.S. into a conflict with extremists at the intersection of the Middle East and the lawless Horn of Africa.

"We are a failed state," said Abubakr A. Badeeb, a leading member of the opposition Socialist Party. "Yemen can no longer protect the rights of its citizens."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-yemen-failed6-2009dec06,0,1224610.story

[KittyWampus]

1. Thank goodness the president has a shiny new mosque. Best way to keep rabble from getting you

deposed?

Blame it all on the heathen infidels and call for jihad.

[madrchsod]

2. that is where the leadership of the al qaeda is.

we are fighting an imaginary enemy in Afghanistan.

[kirby]

3. They are also harbored in Pakistan n/t

[glowing]

4. With their financial rings centered in Asian banks.. quite a few operatives

in Hong Kong as that is where the money is laundered.

[snagglepuss]

5. Very informative. Thanks for posting. Recommended.

[HughMoran]

6. Need a light?

:evilgrin:

[msongs]

7. they have all they need in their.....religion nt

[Odin2005]

8. Isn't South Arabia the center of AQ's extreme form of Islam?

:puke: