Jane Novak writes about jihad and corruption in Yemen in World Press:
In the remote country of Yemen, a determined and heroic democracy movement battles an alliance of Al Qaeda, Saddam Hussein’s generals, and a corrupt regime that wields all the tools of the state. The terrorists are operating on the proceeds from gunrunning and oil sales. The reformers are operating on pure determination.
Throughout Yemeni security forces, military, businesses, and public institutions, an interlinked web of corruption and brutality is stealing Yemen’s resources and attacking any Yemeni who opposes it. And the majority do oppose. All the natural enemies of the jihadis are under attack in Yemen: reformers, democrats, journalists, socialists, pluralists, Shiites, Sunnis, anti-corruption advocates, human rights workers, and more. As forces unite against them, the Yemeni people unite for democracy.
In 2003, Al Qaeda praised Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh as the only Arab leader not beholden to the West. It’s clear why. Saleh has refused to freeze 143 United Nations identified terrorist affiliated bank accounts in Yemen. Some of the millions in those accounts may be proceeds from weapons sales, narcoterrorism, and oil sales. One person who might be able to provide details is Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, Saleh’s half brother, prominent military commander, and reputed Al Qaeda loyalist.
Wherever there is a conflict in the region, the jihadi side seems to be armed by the Yemeni weapons pipeline, reportedly controlled by top military officials. Yemen has sold tanks and missiles to the genocidal Sudanese government. Yemen provides weapons to Eritrean and Somali terrorists, according to the Eritrean Center for Strategic Studies. “Its no secret” that weapons smuggling to Palestinian insurgents is sanctioned by the Yemeni government, an Israeli intelligence official said. The Saudis say they catch Yemeni arms dealers “hourly.”
There’s a lot of missing oil and missing oil revenue in Yemen. Parliamentary member Ali Ashal notes the official sale price for Yemeni oil is $22 a barrel, but it is sold on the market at $45 a barrel. The Canadian corporation Nexen takes nearly half of all its Yemeni oil production as royalties. It’s a sweet deal, but not for the Yemeni people. Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world. The word corruption is a rather benign term to describe the rape of the Yemeni economy by its top officials…
Read it all.