Yemen: Problems go far beyond narrow US focus on terror

Al Qaeda is not the Yemeni government's biggest security concern. The government, headed by President Ali Abdallah Salih since North and South Yemen merged in 1990, faces an ongoing secessionist movement in the south of the country and a violent rebellion by the powerful al-Houthi tribe in the north, both of which constitute graver security threats to Salih's government than al Qaeda. "The threats from the south, these are threats that, I think, threaten to rip the country apart in a way that al Qaeda doesn't," said Johnsen. "Despite my talk and despite the fact that I argue that al Qaeda's stronger now than it has ever been in the past, this doesn't mean that al Qaeda is challenging the state for rule."