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| Yemen: the international jihadi's destination of choice Attempted bombing of Northwest flight 253 has belatedly turned spotlight on terrorist network inside troubled stateThe claim by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab that he was trained, armed and tasked with blowing up an American airliner over US soil by al-Qaida operatives based in Yemen is the western intelligence community's worst nightmare come true.Since the September 11 attacks, the US and allied security services hunting Osama bin Laden and his associates have focused their attention on the mountains of eastern Afghanistan and the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan.In recent years, concern has grown about the activities of al-Qaida affiliates in North Africa's Maghreb region, notably Algeria, and in a few sub-Saharan countries such as Nigeria, birthplace of the would-be bomber of Northwest Airlines flight 253.But in all these cases – even Afghanistan, once its Taliban rulers were deposed – the US could count on the collaboration of established, friendly governments that felt equally threatened by the spectre of Islamist terrorism.Yemen, and Somalia, its terrible twin situated just across the Gulf of Aden, are a different matter altogether.Both countries lack effective central government. Both, having suffered a long history of colonial intervention, are currently prey to warring factions that have no love of the west.And both contain vast, so-called "ungoverned spaces" that offer ideal hideouts and training centres for "non-state actors", the intelligence community's polite euphemism for terrorists.Large tracts of sparsely populated Yemen are, in effect, "no-go" areas for the forces of global counter-terrorism. These safe havens remain mostly out of sight and, despite a trailblazing CIA Predator drone attack against al-Qaida in 2002, mostly out of range.In short, Yemen has become the international jihadi's destination of choice from which to prepare, plot and launch future terror attacks. "Only Pakistan's tribal regions rival Yemen as a terrorist Shangri-La", the Wall Street Journal said this year, citing American estimates that up to 1,500 al-Qaida-linked fighters are based there.Now Abdulmutallab, the well-to-do, well-educated Nigerian recruit, has demonstrated what the Yemeni terrorist melting pot is capable of producing – and just how far its malice can reach.The signs have been there for those who wished to read them. In an under-reported incident in August, a suicide bomber crossed from Yemen into pro-western Saudi Arabia, passed two security checks, and blew himself up only yards from Prince Mohammad bin Nayef, the Saudi counter-terrorism chief.The same military explosive, pentaerythritol, that Abdulmutallab attached to his leg was used by the bomber in the Saudi attack, though the latter concealed it in his rectum. Like the Northwest passengers, Nayef escaped serious injury.Another grim message of intent came in October when al-Qaida's Yemen-based "emir of the Arabian peninsula", Nasir al-Wahayshi, urged supporters to use any means to kill western unbelievers. He identified preferred targets. They were "airports in the western crusade countries that participated in the war against Muslims; or on their planes".Abdulmutallab's statement to the FBI that he went to Yemen this year and received instructions from al-Qaida there is now under investigation by the government in Sana'a, which said it was co-operating fully with the US."The whereabouts and exact details of what he did in Yemen are still unknown, but the investigation will clear up these things in the coming days," a Yemeni official said.Despite their Af-Pak focus, the US and allies such as Britain have not ignored the Yemen threat. In September, John Brennan, the White House counter-terrorism chief, travelled to Sana'a, and in an unusually strong statement, Barack Obama declared the security of Yemen to be "vital for the security of the United States".Since then, Washington has provided unspecified assistance to Yemeni and Saudi crackdowns on jihadi bases and Iranian-backed Shia rebels, amid unconfirmed reports that US special forces are in the country.Two air strikes on al-Qaida strongholds in Yemen, the latest on Christmas Eve, reportedly killed up to 60 militants. It remains unclear whether these unusual operations were influenced by knowledge of a plot to blow up a US airliner.Yet such efforts notwithstanding, the fact remains that Yemen's security problems retain potential to destabilise Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.Author Christopher Boucek, in a report this year by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, warned: "The inability of the Yemeni central government to fully control its territory will create space for violent extremists to regroup and launch attacks against domestic and international targets."Another uncomfortable fact is that Abdulmutallab pointed to western military intervention in Afghanistan as the justification for his actions. His words appear further to undercut always tendentious official arguments that the war is making western countries safer.Next time Gordon Brown tries to explain his Afghan policy, he may do well to examine its connection to what so nearly happened to Northwest Airlines flight 253 in the skies over Detroit.YemenAl-QaidaGlobal terrorismUnited StatesSimon Tisdallguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Muslim-Hindu punk rock bands part of new movement WAYLAND, Mass. (AP) -- Artwork from the Punjab state of India decorates the Ray family home. A Johann Sebastian Bach statue sits on a piano. But in the basement - cluttered with wires, old concert fliers and drawings - 25-year-old Arjun Ray is fighting distortion from his electric guitar.... hosted.ap.org |
Peyton Manning wins record 4th AP MVP NEW YORK (AP) -- Maybe the award should be renamed Most Valuable Peyton.... hosted.ap.org |
U.K. Conference to Focus on Afghan Priorities This month's U.K.-run meeting on Afghanistan will focus on directing international support based on priorities set by the Afghans, and won't be a platform to lobby for increases in troops and aid for the country, Britain's foreign secretary said. online.wsj.com |
Obama announces dramatic crackdown on Wall Street banks President announces "new Glass-Steagall Act" to prevent banks that take customer deposits from taking risky investment bets, and promises a crackdown on financial mergers to prevent institutions becoming "too big to fail"President Barack Obama today declared his intent to take on Wall Street by announcing plans for stringent rules on the banking sector that prompted comparisons with the draconian regulations introduced after the Great Depression.In the boldest move taken by any government around the world to respond to the financial crisis, Obama told banks they would no longer be able to take risky bets with their own capital to make money on the financial markets.Banks which take deposits will not be allowed to use their own money to take bets on markets, run hedge funds or make private equity investments through what he called the "Volcker rule" after former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker.He also wants to prevent further consolidation of the financial system in the US and will ban takeovers and mergers among American firms in the sector.Obama said the new proposals would keep taxpayers from being "held hostage" by banks that have become "too big to fail" and that pose a risk to the entire financial system.Wall Street was nervous ahead of the announcement, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 160 points before he spoke and then falling a further 40 points once he had finished. The FTSE 100 index in London fell sharply in afternoon trading as the markets feared the impact on UK banks such as Barclays and RBS."We simply cannot return to business as usual," said Obama.His words were immediately interpreted as a Glass-Steagall Act for the 21st century, in reference to the legislation introduced in 1933 that prevented commercial banks which took deposits from customers from carrying on investment banking activities.Fresh from the historic loss of a Democratic senate seat in the Kennedy-stalwart state of Massachusetts this week, Obama's assault on Wall Street followed the release of near-record profits from Goldman Sachs and bonus average pay for its 32,000 staff of $500,000.Obama made it clear that he was appealing to the electorate. "Over the past two years more than 7m Americans have lost their jobs; rarely does a day go by that I haven't heard from folks who are hurting," he said."Even as we dig our way out this deep hole it is important we do not lose sight of what got us in this hole in the first place," Obama said, referring to the taxpayer bailout of Wall Street in October 2008. "While the financial system is far stronger today than it was one year ago, it is still operating under the exact same rules that led to its near collapse."Goldman, the most closely watched bank on Wall Street, insisted it was showing "restraint" in its bonus payouts by demanding its 400 partners donate a combined $500m to its charity, Goldman Sachs Gives, and reducing the proportion of revenue allocated to pay from 48% in 2008 to 35.8% in 2009 – the lowest on record.The 141-year-old New York-based bank has been pilloried as the exemplar of banking pay excess. Its London-based employees will be subjected to the chancellor's 50% special tax on bonuses of more than £25,000 and expects to a receive a contribute "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to the UK exchequer. Goldman has pushed back against criticism although its chief executive Lloyd Blankfein was recently lambasted for claaimed that his employees were doing "God's work".Lord Oakeshott, the Liberal Democrats' Treasury spokesman said: "It's restraint, but to everyone else it's gross greed. they are on a different planet."Shares in Goldman were hit hard by Obama's announcement, falling 5%.Obama has already tried to show Main Street that he is trying to restrain Wall Street through the "financial crisis responsibility fee" he announced last week to bring in $90bn over 10 years into the US coffers.An EU proposal to tax banks in Europe also gained ground yesterday when a Swedish proposal to introduce a levy on profits was backed by Spanish finance minister Elena Salgado, whose country currently holds the EU presidency.Salgado said the tax, which will be set aside in a stability fund, will be examined at an informal gathering of European finance ministers in Madrid.The meeting in April could endorse the tax, which Sweden believes could raise £7bn, before going forward to the Commission.BankingBarack ObamaFinancial crisisUS politicsUnited StatesJill Treanorguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |