Yemen regularly makes headlines for its worrisome violence, including the distressing news this week that three out of nine foreign hostages that were recently kidnapped there have been found dead.
In response, Yemeni authorities are stepping up their counter terrorism efforts and offering a $250,000 reward for information that could lead to the arrest of the perpetrators. Initial leads disclosed by the state point to the Huthi insurgents that operate in the Saada province, but there is ample reason to doubt these claims.
The spreading Huthi uprising, the product of complex local dynamics, has not targeted foreigners since it began in 2004 and has little to gain from doing so. Unfortunately, the involvement of an al Qa’eda affiliated organisation makes more sense. After all, a senior al Qa’eda financier of Saudi origin was arrested in Yemen a few days ago, further proof that the country has become a centre of operations for an organisation determined to infiltrate Saudi Arabia. For such facts to be established, the state will have to demonstrate competence and transparency in its efforts to identify the criminal networks operating in Yemen.
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