Dozens of Saudi and Egyptian veterans of al-Qaeda's operations in
Afghanistan have been pouring into Yemen, a senior official has warned.

By Richard Spencer in Dubai
Published: 7:31PM GMT 10 Jan 2010

In the gloomiest internal assessment of Yemen's security yet, he said
jihadis from across the Arab world are hiding in the lawless hills of
Shabwa province where the so-called Christmas Day "underwear bomber" is
thought to have been trained, its governor, Ali Hasan al-Ahmadi, said.

"There are dozens of Saudi and Egyptian al-Qaeda militants who came to
the province," said Shabwa's governor, Ali Hasan al-Ahmadi.

He told the al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper the militants had joined
homegrown Yemeni radicals both from Shabwa and other regions of the country.

The province, in the south-east of the country, was one of the targets
of a series of air raids against al-Qaeda targets conducted by the
Yemeni authorities with American military support shortly before Christmas.

Among those targeted was Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni-American cleric who
has given lectures in London and is believed to have inspired both the
army psychiatrist who went on a shooting rampage in Fort Hood, Texas,
and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who attempted to detonate a bomb in his
underpants over Detroit on Christmas Day.

Awlaki is thought to have a house in Shabwa, though his family, which is
local to the area, have said he survived the attack.

Gordon Brown has called an international conference in London later this
month to discuss how to deal with Yemen's well-publicised security problems.

Abdulmutallab admits being trained by al-Qaeda in Yemen, and is said by
the authorities to have been in Shabwa.

They deny claims that large-scale American military intervention will be
needed for it to re-establish authority over the country, which is torn
by a civil war with Shia rebels in the north, a secessionist movement in
the south and an active al-Qaeda network.

But the names of al-Qaeda members who have openly advertised their
presence in the country, and who include several former inmates of the
Guantanamo Bay internment camp, show its appeal as a new base as the
Americans step up their campaign in Afghanistan and the Pakistan border
regions.

In a sign of some desperation, President Ali Abdullah Saleh at the
weekend called on al-Qaeda members to lay down their arms and enter into
negotiation with his government.

"Dialogue is the best way, even with al-Qaeda, if they set aside their
weapons and return to reason," he said in an interview with Abu Dhabi
television. "We are ready to reach an understanding with anyone who
renounces violence and terrorism."

A large-scale al-Qaeda presence in Yemen could be more dangerous to the
region than in Afghanistan. Yemen is a short boat ride from Somalia, a
state that has already failed, and is deeply impoverished.

Yet its neighbours provide the world with a large proportion of its oil
and gas supplies.

Yemen is the only Gulf state not to be a member of the Gulf Co-operation
Council. It is appealing to join in the hope of attracting investment,
but fellow members fear being "contaminated" by its social and security
problems.

GCC nationals have visa-free access to each others' countries, which
would impose a severe security burden if Yemen were included.

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