Yemen tries to mobilize radical cleric’s tribe against al-Qaeda focus 11/06/2010 ADEN — Yemen, which charged radical US-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi this week with incitement to kill foreigners and with links to al-Qaeda, is trying to mobilize his Awaliq tribe in Shabwa province. Tribal dignitaries who are close to the government met Awaliq leaders in October to convince them to combat the local arm of Osama bin Laden’s extremist network, a tribal source told AFP. “We concluded an agreement with the leaders of the tribe by which they would support the government against al-Qaeda,” said Mahdi Abdessalam al-Awlaqi, a member of parliament with the ruling General People’s Congress, who was part of the delegation from Sanaa. The central government supplied ammunition to a 1,000-man force from the tribe and in October gave them their first mission — to sweep an arid mountain region in the tribe’s home area of Shabwa for al-Qaeda elements. In reaction, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the local al-Qaeda franchise, called in a communique on Islamist Web sites for the tribe’s members to refuse to “cooperate with the Yemeni government.”

Yemen tries to mobilize radical cleric’s tribe against al-Qaeda

focus

11/06/2010
ADEN — Yemen, which charged radical US-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi this week with incitement to kill foreigners and with links to al-Qaeda, is trying to mobilize his Awaliq tribe in Shabwa province.

Tribal dignitaries who are close to the government met Awaliq leaders in October to convince them to combat the local arm of Osama bin Laden’s extremist network, a tribal source told AFP.

“We concluded an agreement with the leaders of the tribe by which they would support the government against al-Qaeda,” said Mahdi Abdessalam al-Awlaqi, a member of parliament with the ruling General People’s Congress, who was part of the delegation from Sanaa.

The central government supplied ammunition to a 1,000-man force from the tribe and in October gave them their first mission — to sweep an arid mountain region in the tribe’s home area of Shabwa for al-Qaeda elements.

In reaction, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the local al-Qaeda franchise, called in a communique on Islamist Web sites for the tribe’s members to refuse to “cooperate with the Yemeni government.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101106com3.html