UN Envoy: Al-Qaeda Is On the Move Again; US Soldiers in Yemen

A UN envoy warned that al Qaeda is making “alarming” gains in Yemen after seizing several southern towns but it’s also resurgent in Iraq and North Africa despite US airstrikes that are picking off its leaders. The Sunni Muslim organization is also reported to be rearing its head in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and even Ethiopia amid speculation that it’s forging an alliance of convenience with Shiite Iran, with whom it has had a mystifying relationship for the last decade. The warning about al Qaeda’s advances in southern Yemen, particularly since Pres. Ali Abdullah Saleh was driven from office after 33 years in power by a pro-democracy uprising, was delivered to the UN Security Council Friday in a confidential briefing. The Washington Post, which obtained a copy of the report, quoted special envoy Jamal Benomar as saying the scale of recent attacks by the jihadist group in Yemen, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, “serves as a stark reminder of the security threat posed by al Qaeda.” More alarming was a March 1st al Qaeda attack on a “security team” of US troops in the port city of Aden, the southern capital. The Pentagon confirmed the attack on US personnel.

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