An attack on an intelligence station in south Yemen is being painted by the government as proof of an alliance between Al-Qaeda and southern separatists, reports Nasser Arrabyee The Yemeni government arrested tens of Al-Qaeda suspects in the southern coastal city of Aden after a group of gunmen, believed to be Al-Qaeda operatives, staged a brazen attack on the intelligence headquarters there, killing 11 in the early morning of 19 June. The gunmen escaped after they killed everyone they encountered in what was supposed to be a maximum-security facility. In the aftermath, Yemeni analysts are asking whether Al-Qaeda is strengthening its hold in South Yemen where disgruntled groups have been demanding secession from the north since 2007. And is there a relationship between separatists -- locally known as Al-Herak -- and Al-Qaeda? While Al-Qaeda did not claim responsibility for the attack, the government arrested the mastermind of the operation within one day, identifying him as Ghawdal Mohamed Saleh Naji who appeared in video footage shown by some satellite channels alongside Al-Qaeda operative Mohamed Ahmed Saleh Omair. The latter threatened to retaliate for the government's airstrike that targeted an Al-Qaeda training camp in Al-Majalah, Abyan on 17 December 2009. Omair was killed one week later in another air strike that targeted a meeting of Al-Qaeda leaders in Rafadh area in Shabwa. For Al-Herak, it is not yet at the level of staging such sophisticated operations at the attack on the intelligence headquarters, even though it has adopted violence as a way of achieving its goals. It's not united as Al-Qaeda: it is divided into eight groups, including two groups outside Yemen. The most obvious thing in common between the two entities -- Al-Qaeda and Al-Herak -- is their hostility to the Sanaa regime and desire to control the south. "Al-Qaeda and Al-Herak are both opponents of the government, but each one of them has its own background. Al-Qaeda is religious and extremist and is using violence to achieve its goals. And although Al-Herak is using violence as well, it is not doing so for religious reasons," said Said Obaid Al-Jemhi, chairman of Al-Jemhi Centre for Research and Study, a recently established think tank concerned with Islamic groups and Al-Qaeda affairs. "Al-Qaeda is exploiting Al-Herak but it is not allying with it. Al-Qaeda wants to go deeper inside Al-Herak, to remake it in its interests. If they fail to succeed, Al-Qaeda will remain as it is; if they succeed, Al-Qaeda will do its best to take Al-Herak far away from the socialism and Marxism of its past," said Al-Jemhi. Al-Herak groups say that those arrested after the attack were only activists and had nothing to do with Al-Qaeda; that the government used Al-Qaeda as a justification to repress them. The most influential group in Al-Herak is led by the former jihadist in Afghanistan and close friend of Osama Bin Laden, Tarek Al-Fadhli, who joined Al-Herak early 2009 in his province Abyan. But Al-Fadhli raised the American and British flags on his house in Zenjubar -- to tell the world he is not with Al-Qaeda any more. Authorities in Aden released on Tuesday 29 June eight out of more than 30 who were arrested after the attack on the intelligence headquarters. On Friday 25 June, security forces dispersed angry crowds after one of those arrested died in the custody. Authorities said Ahmed Darwish died because of asthma. Demonstrators allege he died under torture. Local sources in Aden said that the security forces have been looking for top Al-Qaeda in Yemen leader Nasser Al-Wahaishi. Al-Saada neighbourhood in Aden was surrounded by security forces for three days after clashes with gunmen. Al-Wahaishi was believed to be hiding in the area that is a hotbed for Al-Qaeda sympathisers. Tribal leaders and local authority officials have played an important role in containing the situation.
