On a Collision Course in Yemen, Al-Qaeda, Houthis Vie for Power
By: Khaled al Hrouji
Sep 27, 2012
Anti-Americanism has once again inflamed the embers of sectarian strife
between
<
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/01/08/a-yemeni-analyst-al-qaeda-ha
s-re.html> al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the
<
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2012/09/weekenda-detailed-look-at-
islamism-in-yemen.html> Houthis; driving them to strengthen their respective
forces and expand into new territories outside their areas of presence and
control, in preparation for a confrontation that observers and politicians
think is imminent and will cause grave danger to Yemen's stability and
security.
This development has nothing to do with the open animosity that al-Qaeda and
Houthi militants harbor towards America; an animosity that has become one of
the means by which the conflict is fought between the two groups, and which
has gained prominence in Yemen since late 2011.
After years of secretive work on the part of al-Qaeda's members, when the
Houthi presence was limited to Saada governorate, these two forces took
advantage of the weakness of Yemeni government, civic, security and military
authorities - in addition to the unprecedented lawlessness that the country
witnessed in 2011 following the popular youth revolution against the regime
- to expand and spread beyond the boundaries of the cities and governorates
in which they existed.
This expansion led to increased friction between the groups, to the point
where it actually
<
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/yemens-ticking-ti
me-bomb.html> endangered Yemen's present and future. It threatens to cause
bloody sectarian confrontations that will not be confined to just the
Houthis' turf (in Saada, Hijjah and Al-Jouf governorates in the north,
northwest and northeast of Yemen), nor to the areas where al-Qaeda has a
presence (in Abin, Shabwa, Marib and al-Bayda provinces in the south and
southeast of Yemen).
It will, according to researchers and observers, spread to encompass all of
Yemen.
For over a year, al-Qaeda and the Houthis have been in a race to attract
young people and ordinary citizens to their ranks, with each side using
whatever material and human capacities and potential they have to influence
people in Yemeni cities and villages to convince them of their ideals and
[explain] the goals they wish to accomplish on both an individual and a
generalized Yemeni level.
According to informed sources that talked to Al-Hayat, both al-Qaeda and the
Houthis are using religious discourse to try to influence and change
people's opinions and introduce them to their agendas. They are taking
advantage of Yemen's current situation - in which the state is not
functioning and chaos reigns, causing people all manner of problems and
suffering - in order to present people with alternatives to the state and a
way for them to escape their suffering and deteriorating conditions.
Inhabitants of villages and provinces in the center and south of Yemen said
that they welcomed, at the beginning of this year, delegations sent by
leaders of Ansar al-Shariah (Supporters of Shariah Law).
These al-Qaeda delegations met with groups of mostly young people to present
them with an explanation of their ideals and goals, telling them that they
were preparing to fight a jihad (holy war) in the name of Allah. They
informed people of their plans so that those who desired to do so could join
them and fight against "the Americans, invading Crusaders and their agents
in the Yemeni army and security forces."
Joining the organization
People contacted by Al-Hayat confirmed that some Yemenis, especially youths,
were convinced by the ideas presented by al-Qaeda's delegations and
registered their names to express willingness to join the organization.
These delegations assured people that the first goal of their visit was to
introduce the organization and present listeners with its ideas, vision and
goals, while collecting the names of those who desired to enter its ranks.
At the right time, further visits would follow to finalize matters, which is
basically what occurred over the past few months when these delegations
returned and got pledges from people to join the ranks of the "Mujahedeen"
(militants).
Sources close to al-Qaeda said that in May 2011 the organization's
leadership started using the nomenclature of Ansar al-Shariah instead of
al-Qaeda to describe the groups and members belonging to the organization.
Experts in extremist organizations pointed out that Ansar al-Shariah was now
the main organizational body, with al-Qaeda being part of that expanded
body. They clarified that the new nomenclature was widely accepted in
society because it carried an affective Islamic connotation for Yemenis and
because it was still new and was not tied, in the psyche of people, to acts
of violence and terrorism.
As opposed to al-Qaeda's activities, which were all done in secret, Ansar
al-Shariah's members all worked and acted openly, talking to local and
international media outlets, negotiating with the government, and
publicizing the names of their Emirs in areas under their control.
The Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi sent similar delegations to
introduce the Houthi movement to people and present them with its ideas and
objectives, describing it as a viable replacement and savior that can help
Yemen and the Yemenis overcome their present situation.
The Houthi delegations, mostly comprised of second-rank scholars belonging
to the Zaidi Shiite sect, also used a religious discourse to attract and
influence people. Sources told Al-Hayat that the Houthi discourse differed
[from that of al-Qaeda] in that it presented people with a modernizing civil
agenda, while still raising the slogan of "death to America, death to
Israel, cursed be the Jews, victory to Islam."
Sources claimed that, in addition to this slogan, the Houthis were using
their participation in the popular youth revolution against
<
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/01/08/yemens-old-regime-cedes-mili
tary-power.html> the regime of former President Ali Saleh, and their
presence within [
<
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/01/08/yemen-assassination-attempt-
riles-youths.html> revolutionary youth groups], to portray themselves as a
modernizing force that rejects injustice and oppression while striving to
achieve the change that Yemenis want.
The Salafists
According to sources close to the Houthis and al-Qaeda, members of al-Qaeda
participated in the confrontations that took place between Houthis and
Salafists, with al-Qaeda militants backing and training the Salafists to
fight and use different types of weapons.
Sources also claimed that al-Qaeda and the Salafists are linked by the same
puritanical mentality, albeit with some differences, such as the Salafist
refusal to bear arms against the state, as al-Qaeda does.
In addition, the rivalry and race between al-Qaeda and the Houthis to
attract the young and spread their control over many Yemeni cities and
regions, have led to many instances when members and supporters of both
sides clashed. But the conflict between the two, which started years ago,
took a dangerous turn when al-Qaeda suicide bombers carried out attacks
against Houthi leaders and gatherings of Houthi members.
They succeeded in assassinating Badreddin al-Houthi, the Houthi Shia group's
spiritual leader and father of its leader, in a November 2010 car bomb
attack that targeted a Houthi convoy following the Shia Eid al-Ghadeer
celebration in Al-Jouf province (east of the country). In a statement,
al-Qaeda affirmed that the attack led to the death of over thirty Houthis,
including many of their leaders.
Al-Qaeda's statement said "Allah aided us in transforming Eid al-Ghadder
into a day of damnation for the enemies of God who have twisted Islam and
insulted the Prophet."
The organization also alluded to another car bomb attack that targeted
convoys participating in a funeral procession in the Houthi stronghold of
Dahyan in Saada province, which killed around 70 people and wounded dozens.
Al-Qaeda's statement concluded by saying: "We promise our Muslim nation that
we will not rest while they (Houthis) live among us, and we will, God
willing, uproot this malevolent weed once and for all."
The pace of the conflict escalated between the two as a result of the
repeated suicide attacks perpetrated by
<
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/01/07/fears-of-escalating-al-qaeda
-att.html> al-Qaeda militants against Houthi leaders and followers,
especially in the provinces of Saada and al-Jouf.
The latest such attack occurred on May 25, 2012, when al-Qaeda militants
carried out three simultaneous attacks that targeted Houthi gatherings in
Saada, al-Jouf and al-Bayda provinces, killing thirteen and injuring many
Houthis, in addition to other civilian casualties.
Al-Qaeda and the Houthis took advantage, each in their own way, of the
popular unrest in Yemen caused by the American-made movie that insulted the
Prophet, and the announcement that Marine troops had arrived in Sanaa to
protect the American embassy with the approval of Yemeni authorities.
For while al-Qaeda secretly tried to enlist more militants, and called for
Muslims everywhere to attack the Americans, the Houthis, according to
pundits, exploited these developments to exhibit a public and impressive
show of force in the capital Sanaa through demonstrations that culminated in
<
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/yemen-protests-co
nfusion-and-ang.html> the breaching of Washington's embassy on Sept. 13, in
addition to them plastering their anti-American slogans across most of the
capital's neighborhoods.
Yemeni political sources claim that the Houthis are taking advantage of the
authorities turning a blind eye to their activities and using the widespread
dissemination of their slogan in the capital to show their movement's
strength and its ability to achieve its goals, in order to frighten their
Salafist enemies and Islamist members of the Yemeni
<
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2012/02/mohammad-qahtan-member-of-
the-hi.html> Congregation for Reform, whom many are pushing into confronting
the Houthis.
This is especially considering that the Congregation is fearful of Houthi
expansion into additional Yemeni regions and an increase in Houthi influence
and power, in light of the mounting suspicions and accusations that former
President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Presidential Guard, led by his son, had
backed the Houthis against the Congregation for Reform.
Indeed, a number of northern Yemeni regions saw bloody confrontations
between the Houthis and members of the Congregation; the latest of which
recently took place in the Omran province city of Rida (50 kilometers [about
30 miles] northwest of the capital, Sanaa). Local sources confirmed that at
least 12 people were killed in the confrontations, which stopped on Sept. 23
following intervention by tribal mediators.
Yemeni political sources that talked to Al-Hayat said that Yemen would soon
witness a bloody conflict between al-Qaeda and the Houthis, or between the
latter and the Congregation for Reform.
The same sources affirmed that each of the parties was preparing itself for
battle, and these same sources thought that the next confrontation would
take place in the capital Sanaa, unless the Yemeni authorities were mindful
and worked towards extinguishing the embers of [sectarian] strife while it
was still possible to do so.
Read more:
<
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/01/09/al-qaeda-houthi-tribes-vie-f
or-influence-in-yemen.html#ixzz27hgjlTFG>
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/01/09/al-qaeda-houthi-tribes-vie-fo
r-influence-in-yemen.html#ixzz27hgjlTFG
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Received on Thu Sep 27 2012 - 16:29:14 EDT
