Research report: Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is going through a leadership crisis and its decline will continue
English - Tuesday 05 October 2021 الساعة 12:48 pm
Aden, NewsYemen:
A research report said that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen, has declined in recent years, noting that this decline will continue at a time when it is going through a leadership crisis and the loss of a number of prominent leaders within a short period.
The report issued by the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies attributed this to the decline in faith in the basic idea of the organization among many of its members, and the inability of its current leadership to deal confidently with the crisis experienced by the organization.
The report quoted a former jihadist who was close to Osama bin Laden as saying that al-Qaeda in Yemen will enter a state of stagnation for years to come, because the organization's current leader, Khaled Batarfi, lacks the elements of leadership, lacks strategic vision, and is ideologically extremist.
According to the leader of the organization, the second man in the organization, Ibrahim al-Qusi, nicknamed “Abu Khubayb al-Sudani,” is not much different from Batarfi, adding, “I say this based on my good knowledge of him, which dates back to the days of the jihad in Afghanistan, when he was a private cook for Sheikh Osama, one of the legitimate leaders close to him.
According to the report, the organization’s leadership problems have emerged since the killing of the former leader of the organization, Nasser al-Wahaishi, as his successor, Qassem al-Rimi was a brave fighter, but his misreading of the situation was evident when Saudi Arabia employed the organization under his leadership to fight the Houthi armed group, which ultimately weakened the fighting spirit of the organization’s elements and their ideological commitment. and undermined the security of the organization.
According to the research report, the organization erred in reading Saudi Arabia’s intentions since 2015 and exposed itself as a security force and allowed itself to be drawn into the coalition’s war against the Houthis, at a time when circumstances allowed it to expand its influence.
He said that one of the mistakes made by the organization was its bias towards the position of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri against ISIS, contrary to what the organization's members wanted in general, in addition to adopting a series of internal security measures that made many of its members feel alienated.
As a result of those errors; The organization lost most of its main strongholds in several governorates, and its local operations were significantly reduced. Its ideological foundations were also shaken with the widening of the internal disputes and suspicions that have prevailed in its ranks since 2015, which led to the split and retirement of many of its members and leaders.
The report urged further research to shed more light on how to counter the potential threat posed by the group. Possible topics for future research include the relationship between the organization and its splinter Al-Nahdi group, and the course of counterterrorism efforts in southern Yemen.
He also called on the Yemeni government and the countries whose citizens have joined the organization to take advantage of the restlessness felt by many elements of the organization to facilitate and encourage their return to their countries and their integration into society by declaring a general amnesty or reduced sentences.
