Yemen, January 12: The governor of a key province in the front line of Yemen’s struggle against al- Qa’ida has admitted that the government’s control in his area is “not strong”, and says that no extra troops have been deployed there despite official suggestions that the threat of al-Qa’ida is being contained with a new crackdown by Yemeni forces.
As Yemen faces mounting US and international pressure to combat the use of the country as the new base for al-Qa’ida in the Arabian peninsula, the governor of Abyan province, one of the southern provinces seen as al-Qa’ida strongholds, said “truthfully and honestly, it [government control] is not so strong”. Ahmed Bin Ahmed al-Misri, who said the threat from al-Qa’ida in the mountain regions of his province had grown in the last six months, added: “There are not enough weapons, there are not enough soldiers.”
The difficulties faced by Abyan’s most senior official provide a rare insight into the problems in conducting the so-called “war on terror” in a relatively remote, rugged and undeveloped country where deep poverty, tribalism and religious conservatism allow radical influences to flourish.
–Agencies