Yemen ... the new Republic of al-Qaeda
Terror takeover fears
Happy ... protester with anti-President slogan on his chest
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BY MARK ALMOND
History professor, Oxford University
THE Yemen is a minefield of warring tribes and Muslim sects.
Its strategic location, with a coastline along the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, makes civil war there such a concern for the rest of the world.
Piracy is in business in Somalia but Yemen is better placed to raid the lucrative oil tankers and container ships en route to the Suez Canal.
Yemen has terrorists as well as pirates. Already Yemeni groups linked to al-Qaeda have attacked the West.
US efforts to combat terrorist cells using drone attacks and bribes have had limited success at best.
Now with forces in Afghanistan and Libya neither Washington nor Whitehall has the stomach for another intervention.
FEARS were mounting last night that Yemen could fall into the hate-filled grip of al-Qaeda.
The threat grew after its president, who fled the country, had surgery on wounds suffered in a rebel rocket attack on his palace.
Ali Abdullah Saleh had jagged pieces of wood removed from his chest in Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh.
Experts believe his departure on Saturday, with most of his family and other regime leaders, could be permanent, ending 33 years of iron rule.
Terror
Al-Qaeda and tribal factions look set to battle to fill the power vacuum amid warnings Yemen could soon become the terror network's global base.
Western powers fear Yemen - home to the world's most dangerous al-Qaeda group led by jet bomb mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki - could become a lawless "failed state".
Al-Awlaki's internet rants from his Yemeni lair have sparked a string of terror attacks from twisted followers in Britain and the US.
And the meltdown of its government will raise the risk of terror attacks on the West and pose a serious threat to vital Gulf oil shipments.
Foreign Secretary William Hague warned the growing chaos could be "a much more serious threat" to UK security.
Joy ... soldier joins demonstration in Sanaa
Surgery ... Ali Abdullah Saleh. Right, bomb mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki
Nine soldiers died when gunmen ambushed a convoy in the south, officials said. And at least two people were killed when a grenade exploded at a facility used by an anti-Saleh general.
20 killed in Israel border violence
Clash ... Israeli troops
More than 325 others were injured as youths tried to breach a fence at the Golan Heights.
As Palestinian and Syrian demonstrators hurled rocks over the wire, troops opened fire. One onlooker said: "It was like a turkey shoot."
Israel accused the Syrian regime of orchestrating the violence to deflect attention from its crackdown on a civil uprising.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu declared: "Extremist forces are trying to breach our borders and threaten our communities. We will not let them do that."
The death toll in Syrian town Jisr al-Shughour reached 25 yesterday after clashes with troops.
Hague's Gaddafi warning
Surprise visit ... William Hague
Mr Hague paid a surprise weekend visit to the war-ravaged country and spoke to leaders of its opposition movement.
He said the rebel Transitional National Council was genuinely committed to democracy and he had a "fairly clear sense" it was not linked to extremists. He said the meeting was "inspiring".
Mr Hague, visiting Benghazi as British Apache helicopters joined Nato airstrikes for the first time, said: "The pressure is now all on the regime."
The pilot leader of the Apache strike which destroyed a radar site and army post at the port of Brega, said: "We achieved total surprise."
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3619811/Fears-Yemen-is-the-new-Republic-of-al-Qaeda.html#ixzz1PbGULtuW
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