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Yemen's alliance poses complication for US
Even as it fights a U.S.-supported war against al-Qaeda militants here, the Yemeni government is engaging Islamist extremists who share an ideology similar to Osama bin Laden's in its own civil war, adding new complications to efforts to fight terrorism.
Yemen's army is allying with radical Sunnis and former jihadists in the fight against Shiite rebels in the country's north. The harsh tactics of those forces, such as destroying Shiite mosques and building Sunni ones, are breeding resentment among many residents, analysts said, and given the tangle of evolving allegiances could build support for al-Qaeda's Yemeni branch, which plotted the Christmas Day attempt to bomb a U.S. airliner.
The alliance with the Sunni radicals is one of the most vivid examples of the tangled loyalties within Yemen's fragile government and raises concerns about the nation's long-term commitment to U.S. goals to eliminate al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemeni branch.