East of Aden: Al Qaeda Seizes Key City in Yemen
This is awful news. I offer the usual caveat that I'm not there, and not a specialist in Yemen. But I'm inclined to believe, just based on the plausibility of the idea, rumors that Saleh simply handed over Zinjibar to Al Qaeda to bolster his case to the West: It's me or them. A brigade of the Republican Guard apparently defected to the opposition, and next thing you know Al Qaeda holds Zinjibar?--no, I don't imagine it's a coincidence.
More than 200 suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen have taken control of the south Yemen city of Zinjibar after fighting with security forces that left 16 people dead, officials and witnesses said on Sunday.
The witnesses said that most residents had fled Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province with a population of more than 20,000, to nearby Aden, about 30 kilometres (18 miles) away.
Yemen's opposition accused embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh of having allowed Zinjibar to be overrun by the gunmen to raise fears concerning Al-Qaeda and boost his flagging international support.
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May '10
Re: East of Aden: Al Qaeda Seizes Key City in Yemen
There may be some advantage to having some Al Quaeda bunched up in an identifiable location, if we have the courage to act on it.
Mar '11
Re: East of Aden: Al Qaeda Seizes Key City in Yemen
I'm old enough to remember when Aden was a British port and airbase - oh, well, all part of the Arab Spring, I guess...
Time for Golf!
Mar '11
Re: East of Aden: Al Qaeda Seizes Key City in Yemen
The "Arab Spring" marches on, Egypt mulling over renouncing the 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty? Meh. Afghan and Iraqi schooled jihadists flock to Libya? Snooze. What, Al Qaeda seizes a Yemeni city? Well, lets not judge. We're not expecting democracy in the Islamic world to fall along Western lines are we? That would be racist or something something.
It has gotten to the point where I can hardly listen to general coverage of these events without grinding my teeth. The shallow, saccharine reportage I see coming from a majority of western journalists and government officials is simply jaw dropping. The very label "Arab Spring" is completely ridiculous, a world gone mad.
Edited on May 29, 2011 at 9:34amRe: East of Aden: Al Qaeda Seizes Key City in Yemen
Let's rebrand it "Arab climate change." Maybe that will get someone's attention.
May '10
Re: East of Aden: Al Qaeda Seizes Key City in Yemen
A much better term Claire, after all the temperature has been dropping this past decade; and it is not so much a Spring but an early onset of Winter for the Arabs being seduced by fanatical Islam.
May '10
Re: East of Aden: Al Qaeda Seizes Key City in Yemen
I leaned over the rail in Zinjibar and sadly smoked my last cigar.
Jul '10
Re: East of Aden: Al Qaeda Seizes Key City in Yemen
The rolling of tragedy out of tragedy engulfs the Middle East while our know-nothing press sings a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta to the tune. From tyrannies gentled by fear of the West to tyrannies that just like to see the world burn.
I have a little list.
Re: East of Aden: Al Qaeda Seizes Key City in Yemen
Claire, here's an article about this development that appeared in today's Jerusalem Post.