The Situation in Yemen

The Arabian peninsula is a rising concern with regard to expanding terrorism and more specifically the terrorist group Al-Queda. As recently as Wednesday, today, a car carrying 5 British diplomats in Yemen was bombed by a terrorist operative. One of the officials was injured as were 2 bystanders but the rest of the diplomats remained unscathed. Yemen is known to be fostering Al-Queda terrorist operatives including former US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki. It is also said that terrorist in Yemen trained the Nigerian man who attempted to bomb an airport in Detroit. This was the second bombing attempt on the British embassy in Yemen after a failed suicide bomber attempted an attack in April. This news coupled with worries in France and the United Kingdom about another home soil terrorist attack dominated the terrorism front on the news pages this week. Also, a french citizen died in Yemen near the much troublesome area in Sana where there are many oil fields. It will be interesting to see how Obama handles the situation in Yemen as his term in office progresses.

Tom Kuebel

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/world/middleeast/07yemen.html?hp