US ‘aware’ of coalition deals with al-Qaeda

A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and backed by the United States has claimed repeatedly over the past two years that it has won decisive victories that drove al-Qaeda militants from strongholds across Yemen and shattered their ability to attack the west.

But the coalition instead cut secret deals with al-Qaeda fighters, paying some to leave key cities and towns and letting others retreat with weapons, equipment and wads of looted cash, an investigation by the Associated Press has found. Hundreds more were recruited to join the coalition itself.

These compromises and alliances have allowed al-Qaeda militants to survive to fight another day — and risk strengthening the most dangerous branch of the terror network that carried out the 9/11 attacks. Key participants in the pacts said the US was aware of the arrangements and held off on any drone strikes.

The deals uncovered by the AP reflect the contradictory interests of the two wars being waged simultaneously in this southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula.

In one conflict, the US is working with its Arab allies — particularly the United Arab Emirates — with the aim of eliminating the branch of extremists known as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP. But the larger mission is to win the civil war against the Houthis, Iranian-aligned Shia rebels. And in that fight, al-Qaeda militants are effectively on the same side as the Saudi-led coalition — and, by extension, the US.

“Elements of the US military are clearly aware that much of what the US is doing in Yemen is aiding AQAP,” said Michael Horton, a fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, a US analysis group that tracks terrorism. “However, supporting the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia against what the US views as Iranian expansionism takes priority over battling AQAP and even stabilising Yemen,” Horton said.

The AP’s findings are based on reporting in Yemen and interviews with two dozen officials, including Yemeni security officers, militia commanders, tribal mediators and four members of al-Qaeda’s branch.

Horton said much of the war on alQaeda by the UAE and its allied militias is a “farce”. “It is now almost impossible to untangle who is AQAP and who is not since so many deals and alliances have been made,” he said.

The US has sent billions of dollars in weapons to the coalition to fight the Iran-backed Houthis.

The stalemated war has killed more than 10,000 people, and left around two-thirds of Yemen's population of 27 million relying on aid and more than 8 million at risk of starving.