Al Qaida thrives in Yemen

Ja'ar: A combination of government alliances, bribes, broken promises and bungled crackdowns has led to the emergence of a regional hub for Al Qaida in Yemen's restive South.

The rise of Al Qaida has been a gradual process of radicalisation as generations of volunteer fighters have returned from conflicts abroad: the Afghan war against the Soviets in the 1980s, as well as the Nato-led war against the Taliban and the war in Iraq in 2003. Veterans of these conflicts have been fighting for influence.

Ahmad Al Daghasha, a Yemeni writer who specialises in Islamic and extremist issues, says two factors are responsible for the growing influence of Al Qaida.

"First there is the local situation, which is miserable, politically and economically," he said. "Then there is the foreign oppression that we all see on television whether in Iraq, Afghanistan or Palestine that gives Al Qaida's rhetoric legitimacy."

Speaking to the Guardian, a local Al Qaida commander, who identified himself as Jamal, described the government's relationship with Al Qaida as a ‘comedy'.

"The government uses us to fight its enemies, and then they tell the Americans [to] give Yemen money to fight Al Qaida."