Yemen's alliance with radical Sunnis in internal war poses complication for U.S.

SANAA, YEMEN -- 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. Those entanglements are evident even at the highest levels of the government, including President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the second most powerful man in Yemen, Ali Muhsin, who commands the armed forces fighting the rebels.

Muhsin, responsible for deploying the Sunni fighters, follows the ultraconservative brand of Sunni Islam known as Salafism. Salafists follow a strict interpretation of the Koran. Many reject violence, but hard-liners, including bin Laden and al-Qaeda followers, see Salafist codes as justification for targeting the West and its allies.

Jihadism and radical Islam have tenacious roots in Yemen, and Saleh has long aligned himself with Salafists and ex-jihadists, to assert authority and deepen his grip on power. "The Salafists and al-Qaeda are like the two faces of the moon," said Muhammad al-Mutawakil, a political science professor at Sanaa University. "The Salafists are the light face and al-Qaeda is the dark face. They have the same culture."

Saleh's patronage of Salafists has helped fuel Islamist extremism in Yemen, the Arab world's poorest nation. Senior military, security and religious figures in the country are widely thought to be Salafi sympathizers, some with past links to bin Laden. Some are exercising their authority to limit the U.S.-Yemen relationship.

Senior Yemeni officials do not deny that Saleh and Muhsin deploy Salafists to fulfill their agenda. But they say the Salafists are now being mobilized against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, helping gather intelligence and fighting suspected militants in the north. Yemen's government has charged that al-Qaeda members support the Shiite rebels, though it has not provided evidence, say Western diplomats and analysts.

Still, some top Yemeni officials are wary about the relationship with the Salafists. "Using these extremist people, if they are with you today, they are prone to be against you tomorrow," said Abdel-Karim al-Iriyani, a former prime minister and current political adviser to Saleh. "That comes not without danger."

Salafism in Yemen

Salafism grew out of Yemen's close relationship with its ultra-religious neighbor Saudi Arabia. Tens of thousands of Yemenis poured into the kingdom for jobs and brought back Saudi values to an already conservative tribal society. Religious schools that taught Saudi Wahhabism, which experts equate with Salafism, spread across Yemen; Saudis funded many of the schools.

In the 1980s, tens of thousands of Yemenis traveled to Afghanistan to wage jihad, or holy war, against the Soviets, partly encouraged and financed by the United States. There, many were introduced to the Salafist ideology. Upon their return, Yemen's government treated the former fighters as heroes.

Saleh also recruited Salafists and ex-jihadists into his inner circle. They included Tariq al-Fadhli, who became a key government adviser and a colonel in Yemen's military, and Muhsin, who had recruited fighters for bin Laden in Afghanistan.

In 1994, four years after U.S.-backed North Yemen merged with Marxist South Yemen, a vicious, if brief, civil war broke out. To quell the southern rebellion, Saleh dispatched Fadhli, along with thousands of Salafists and ex-jihadists.