Yemen Employs New Terror Approach

Ali Mohammed al-Kurdi, right, smiles during his trial in Sana'a court, Yemen in this 2004 file photo. Ali Mohammed al-Kurdi says he sent two suicide bombers to Iraq and trained others. He was sentenced to death for his part in a hotel bombing in Yemen's port city of Aden, escaped and was re-arrested. Now, he is back on the streets because he signed an agreement with the Yemeni government promising to obey the law. Yemen is pioneering a novel approach for dealing with convicted al-Qaida operatives: Let them roam free as long as they promise to be law-abiding. (AP Photo/ Mohammad al-Qadhi, File) (Mohammad Al-qadhi - AP)

Yemen remains a fertile recruiting ground for groups fighting the West elsewhere in the Middle East. Recruiters give would-be militants the equivalent of about $1,300 to go to Iraq, Yemen's Interior Minister Al-Alimi said in an interview.

"For us in Yemen, we think the biggest problem is unemployment and poverty," he said.

Yemen is one of the least developed countries and is among the 30 "least livable" countries in the world, according to the U.N. Human Development Index for 2006.

But some of those who have recruited Yemenis to fight in Iraq contend it is conviction, not money, that motivates them.

Sitting on the floor of a second story apartment in Sana'a, al-Kurdi freely acknowledged that he used to dispatch young warriors to Iraq.

"One of them carried out a suicide bombing in Baghdad in 2005 and another carried out a suicide bombing near Abu Ghraib prison," al-Kurdi said with the pride of a teacher speaking of his students, showing no trace of regret for the blood he helped to spill.

He says he has stopped recruitment now only because of his compact with the government.

"Someone has guaranteed my release. If I do anything, they will take him," Al-Kurdi said. "Also they gave me $1,700."