Al Qaeda taking advantage of security vacuum in Yemen

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Sana’a, May 26: Al Qaeda is taking advantage of the security vacuum and worsening political turmoil in Yemen to smuggle weapons into the capital, Sana’a in preparation to attack the Western targets.

The group seems to have gained considerable strength in Yemen taking the advantage of the division of the army into pro-Saleh and anti-Saleh factions in the protests urging the President Ali Abudullah Saleh to quit office.

Senior United States officials have already described Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) as “the most significant threat to the US homeland” after it was linked to two attacks on domestic American targets.

Many western missions have reduced their scale of operations and the US is on standby to evacuate its ambassador from Yemen amid fears of an imminent attack on Sana’a, a western intelligence assessment claimed.

“Yemen is standing on the edge of a precipice. The rule of law has almost totally collapsed and AQAP can manoeuvre with unimpeded and unprecedented freedom. The current risk is as high as it could be”, The Telegraph quoted a western source, as saying.

US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron had earlier urged Saleh to quit office.We call upon President Saleh to move immediately on his commitment to transfer power,” Mr Obama said.

Saleh had promised for a third time this week to sign a deal that would see him hand over power within 30 days, but he again stepped back on his promise on Sunday.

“I will not leave power and I will not leave Yemen. I don’t take orders from outside”, he said. (ANI)