Wahishi Takfirs Saleh
Tries to inspire tribal resentment
al Babwa: The leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is calling on Yemenis in a new audio recording to rise up against the government. The audio message was released on Jihadist Web sites Thursday. In it, Naser Abdel Karim al-Wahishi also calls on Arabs in Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries to help their brothers in Yemen.
According to the AP, Al-Wahishi is Yemen’s most wanted fugitive. He leads the formation which includes al-Qaeda in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. He was among 23 al-Qaeda figures who escaped from a Yemeni prison in 2006.
Its kind of funny that a variety of forums are using the banner with the four AQAP leaders to herald the announcement of the rantings and ramblings of Wahishi, when one of the four already cut out on him.
The whole underpinning of Yemen’s dialog program is to convince the Jihaddists, not that random acts of murder are wrong, but that Saleh is a good Muslim. Standard neo-Salafi dictates include not challenging the leader, even if he is a bad leader, as long as he is a good Muslim. (Zaidism requires action, but not necessarily force, against an unjust or incompetent ruler.) Thus external jihad was something Saleh aided and endorsed in public speeches.
The fatwa given by the Egyptian al-Masiri (ostracized from the Dar al Hadith educational network) during Yemen’s last presidential election (and broadcast on national TV) was that voting for the opposition was un-Islamic. By takfiring Saleh, Wahishi is legitimizing attacks within Yemen and against the state. But their first goal is the US.
Wahishi appears to be trying to make a coalition of external fighters, tribesmen and home grown jihaddists, a veritable al Qaeda army. There’s quite a substantial number of military trained jihaddists available in Yemen. In this theory, Saleh has few options but fight or more prisoner releases. He put himself in this box years ago. I don’t know if he can pivot to the right quickly enough to re-align with the moderate social and political forces that he has been attacking for so long. However, Wahishi’s statement stems from the very public surrender of his Saudi “brother” and really is just spin control. And again, the fractures in the house of Saleh are readily apparent and a factor. Some part of the Yemeni administration, some hand with high authority, is helping or at a minimum protecting Wahishi. Actually I’m not convinced that Wahishi is anything more than a front man, but you get my drift.
So now how are the Yemenis going to react to this development, when they too are fair game and subject to murder by these fanatics if they disobey the Talaban-like dictates and walk past the Embassy, go to the wrong restaurant or work as a tour guide? Now that the Jihaddists are openly murdering Jews and homosexuals and threatening women? Will Saleh’s official policy of supporting the concept of “justified jihad” change? Will Saleh himself stop takfiring the opposition? The Talabanization of Yemen is insidious and has been creeping along through a variety of state policies. Yemen is and has been in danger of becoming the first al Qaeda state. The solution is, remains, a free marketplace of ideas. Its time to unblock the internet and de-criminalize speech Ali, you shortsighted, double dealing, stone cold criminal.
