Yemenis Say They Have Bigger Problems Than Al Qaeda

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

SANA, Yemen — On the streets of Sana, the nation’s conflict-stricken capital, the news of the death of Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni-American propagandist for Al Qaeda who inspired jihadists around the world, was largely overshadowed by the continuing domestic turmoil here.

Many Yemenis had not even heard that Mr. Awlaki had been killed, even by Friday night. And most had only a faint sense of why the United States considered him a highly significant target. If anything, Yemenis thought his death would only increase their woes.

“I don’t know why he was important, except that he was a terrorist,” said Belal Masood, who works in a restaurant in Sana’s old city. “But maybe this will create a problem for us Yemenis, because when you strike Al Qaeda they normally strike back larger. Really, we wish they could have killed him in another country.”

Another man, Walid Seneb, who was sitting on a street curb with three friends on Friday night, said, “We don’t like these terrorists who make problems for us. Mr. Seneb was the only one of the four men who had heard of the cleric’s death.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/world/middleeast/yemenis-say-they-have-bigger-problems-than-al-qaeda.html

[Warpy]

1. It's a poor and intensely corrupt small country

with few natural resources and a huge population of mostly screwed over citizens who go hungry a lot of the time.

That's why it's the perfect place for terrorists to set up shop.

[ellisonz]

2. Yemen could look like Somalia within the decade.