:00:26. > :00:29.HARDtalk is on the road in southern Yemen amid worrying signs that Al-
:00:29. > :00:39.Qaeda is spreading its influence in one of the most strategically vital
:00:39. > :00:41.
:00:41. > :00:51.corners of the Middle East. Significant territory is now in Al-
:00:51. > :00:54.
:00:54. > :01:04.Qaeda's hands. Is Yemes. Is Yeme become one of the world's most
:01:04. > :01:15.
:01:15. > :01:19.Aden, a port city. It was ruled by British colonialist until the 1960s.
:01:19. > :01:27.Since 1990, the second city has been a part of a united Yemeni
:01:27. > :01:34.Republic. The calm is deceptive. Beyond the confines of the city, a
:01:35. > :01:40.violent insurgency is gaining ground. I am on the main road
:01:41. > :01:43.heading due east. There are reports of continuing
:01:43. > :01:53.fighting between government forces and Islamist fighters in the
:01:53. > :01:58.
:01:58. > :02:04.capital. Can we get there? Is the government really in control of its
:02:04. > :02:14.own territory? No more than 15 kilometres away, we
:02:14. > :02:26.
:02:26. > :02:36.We were ordered out of our vehicle. The local commander told us we
:02:36. > :02:42.
:02:42. > :02:52.Despite the road blocks and the sporadic fighting, we were able to
:02:52. > :02:59.
:02:59. > :03:09.get these pictures of the situation The Yemeni military attacks have
:03:09. > :03:41.
:03:41. > :03:43.In the past, the insurgency has spread across south-east Yemen.
:03:43. > :03:46.With the extraordinary weakness of the central government, militant
:03:46. > :03:53.fighters have extended their territory to within 150 kilometres
:03:53. > :04:03.of the capital. Al-Qaeda have become the most potent offshoot of
:04:03. > :04:14.
:04:14. > :04:24.You have to do what you have to do. An American born militant was
:04:24. > :04:25.
:04:25. > :04:32.assassinated. But his demise did little to halt the insurgency. Here
:04:32. > :04:36.is why. The state has crumbled in the face of a people powered
:04:36. > :04:42.uprising inspired by the Arab Spring. For months, the government
:04:42. > :04:45.has been leaderless and riddled with bitter divisions. The
:04:45. > :04:55.President has finally relinquished his grip on the country but his
:04:55. > :05:00.
:05:00. > :05:04.family and allies still hold many In the past, the President used the
:05:04. > :05:14.Al-Qaeda threats as a means to garner Western support. Many
:05:14. > :05:16.
:05:16. > :05:23.believe the same game is being played. This man is a tribal leader
:05:23. > :05:33.with family ties to Al-Qaeda insurgents. He and his entourage
:05:33. > :05:43.
:05:43. > :05:49.have been involved in at its to The Yemen government says it is
:05:49. > :05:59.fighting a war against and cried out. If it is a war, whose side are
:05:59. > :06:25.
:06:25. > :06:35.The reason I ask you about Al-Qaeda is because you do have closer links
:06:35. > :06:46.
:06:46. > :06:55.with people who were in and are in You are also linked by family to an
:06:55. > :07:05.important figure in Al-Qaeda today. Many people believe you have
:07:05. > :07:35.
:07:35. > :07:38.sympathies with these people. Do What we know about the situation is
:07:38. > :07:48.that for years the US have offered military support to the President,
:07:48. > :07:56.
:07:56. > :08:06.and right now flying drones are being used to kill Al-Qaeda targets.
:08:06. > :08:46.
:08:46. > :08:50.What do you think of that US In your heart, do you believe there
:08:50. > :09:00.can be peace and freedom in this country as long as there are a
:09:00. > :09:39.
:09:39. > :09:49.significant number of militants Do you believe Al-Qaeda in Yemen
:09:49. > :10:13.
:10:13. > :10:23.today are getting stronger or The Al-Qaeda insurgency has
:10:23. > :10:23.
:10:23. > :10:26.generated a new humanitarian crisis in the Arab world's poorest country.
:10:26. > :10:36.In Aden, only emergency relief is keeping a wave of displaced people
:10:36. > :10:37.
:10:37. > :10:40.alive. The Yemeni state is failing many of its people. None more so
:10:40. > :10:43.than the almost 200,000 who have been forced to flee continued
:10:43. > :10:53.fighting between Islamists, Al- Qaeda linked forces and government
:10:53. > :10:59.
:10:59. > :11:09.troops. It would be tough for any country to deal with such an influx
:11:09. > :11:11.
:11:11. > :11:17.but for Yemen it is proving almost impossible. This place is now home
:11:17. > :11:25.to more than 1,000 displaced people. The UN refugee agency is doing what
:11:25. > :11:35.they can but meagre resources are being stretched to breaking-point.
:11:35. > :11:37.
:11:37. > :11:40.Refugees like this man and his family feel trapped.
:11:40. > :11:50.What were your feelings when you realised you had to leave your
:11:50. > :12:21.
:12:21. > :12:31.As the war came closer to your home, What has it been like for you in
:12:31. > :12:41.
:12:41. > :12:44.the last few months, living as a You have seven children. You are
:12:45. > :12:54.living in difficult conditions in a school which is not designed to be
:12:55. > :12:55.
:12:55. > :13:53.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds
:13:53. > :14:01.a place for families and refugees. It sounds like you are very
:14:01. > :14:11.disappointed in your own national security forces. You do not feel
:14:11. > :14:26.
:14:26. > :14:32.they defended your village or your Visitors to the UN refugee agency
:14:32. > :14:38.compound in Aden must pass through exhaustive security. Defences are
:14:38. > :14:47.being reinforced. Yemen desperately needs outside help but delivering
:14:47. > :14:50.it is a hazardous business. Explain where we are right now. We are
:14:50. > :14:57.outside the UN office in Aden from where we run our operations in the
:14:57. > :15:00.south of the country. That includes the operations of the new arrivals
:15:00. > :15:10.from the Horn of Africa, displaced people, and any other activity
:15:10. > :15:14.
:15:14. > :15:22.which is related to displacement in the south. We are outside the UN
:15:22. > :15:28.headquarters in Aden. Why does it look like a fortress? Because we
:15:28. > :15:34.are not working in a normal environment. It is very challenging.
:15:34. > :15:36.The security situation is difficult. It is our responsibility...
:15:36. > :15:46.Personally it is my responsibility to ensure minimal security and
:15:46. > :15:49.safety standards for my colleagues. Your job is to reach out to people
:15:49. > :15:58.and offer humanitarian assistance to some of the most wretched people
:15:58. > :16:04.in this country. The bunker mentality, it seems to work against
:16:04. > :16:13.what you are trying to do. That is an important point that you make.
:16:13. > :16:20.Having said that, our job is to work with people. We co-ordinate
:16:21. > :16:28.activities from these offices. Every day, my colleagues are out
:16:28. > :16:36.there in the refugee camps. They are at the settlements. From this
:16:36. > :16:39.location, our job is to co-ordinate the activities. This is part of our
:16:39. > :16:46.work when we are working in a situation where you have several
:16:46. > :16:49.conflicts going on. Access is an issue. I was like to communicate to
:16:49. > :16:54.the leadership of this country at all levels to allow us and to
:16:55. > :16:57.provide all possible access for humanitarian work to be done.
:16:57. > :17:04.saying that, are you suggesting that the Yemen government is not
:17:04. > :17:14.offering full co-operation? They have been co-operative with the UN
:17:14. > :17:15.
:17:15. > :17:18.and the international community but they have their own challenges. It
:17:18. > :17:22.is not a secret. The country has been going through several
:17:22. > :17:29.conflicts. It has made things difficult for the government to
:17:29. > :17:33.facilitate the work of the international community. I suspect
:17:33. > :17:39.you are trying to be diplomatic. You are saying this is a failing
:17:39. > :17:42.state. I would not go that far. you have to if it is impossible for
:17:42. > :17:51.you and your workers to reach some of the people because it is too
:17:51. > :17:54.dangerous, the insurgency is too strong and the roads are too unsafe.
:17:54. > :18:04.Despite all those difficulties, we are able to reach most of the
:18:04. > :18:14.people who are in need. The bigger challenge at present for us is the
:18:14. > :18:14.
:18:14. > :18:19.resources. Yemen is going through a serious humanitarian crisis. The
:18:19. > :18:25.world attention is almost... This crisis is being overlooked and
:18:25. > :18:31.ignored. The question is, why? The answer is that the world attention
:18:31. > :18:33.is going to the political issues and not to the humanitarian issues.
:18:33. > :18:37.The fallout that the political crisis has created for this
:18:37. > :18:47.humanitarian situation... We are concerned that we will see a new
:18:47. > :18:50.
:18:50. > :18:54.Somalia in the making. A new Somalia? In humanitarian terms.
:18:54. > :18:57.you saying to me that the sort of total breakdown in a state, in a
:18:57. > :19:05.society that we have seen in Somalia could be visited upon
:19:05. > :19:15.Yemen? If Yemen is not helped by the international community at this
:19:15. > :19:25.
:19:25. > :19:35.Perhaps comparisons with Somalia are inevitable. After all, Yemen
:19:35. > :19:41.lies just across the Gulf of Aden. Yemen's strategic value is much
:19:41. > :19:48.higher. The coastline runs for 1,500 miles along some of the most
:19:48. > :19:54.strategic sensitive waters in the world. Terrorists, pirates and
:19:54. > :20:04.refugees, all of them pose a threat to Yemen's security. The coastguard
:20:04. > :20:05.
:20:05. > :20:08.service is to combat that threat. They only have three dozen boats.
:20:08. > :20:15.The West has offered Yemen's government military backing, from
:20:15. > :20:19.US drones to UK Navy personnel training the coastguards. But as
:20:19. > :20:29.the country descends into chaos, there is a question - has any of it
:20:29. > :20:33.
:20:33. > :20:37.worked? Welcome to HARDtalk. What is the number one problem?
:20:37. > :20:46.According to the increase of piracy action in the area up, that is our
:20:46. > :20:55.major concern. In addition to the situation going on in Somalia.
:20:55. > :20:57.We're closing the shore to suspicious people. When you talk
:20:57. > :21:00.about suspicious people, we know there has been a number of
:21:00. > :21:10.statements from a movement in Somalia saying they will help their
:21:10. > :21:20.brother fighters, the Islamist Jihad fighters. Are you seeing them
:21:20. > :21:26.
:21:26. > :21:29.come into Yemen? There are so many attempts. They want to come to
:21:29. > :21:39.Yemen. But with co-operation with the Yemen coastguard and the Navy,
:21:39. > :21:40.
:21:40. > :21:46.they are doing a good job. They are doing their best to stop it.
:21:46. > :21:51.talk a very good game. But you have 30 boats in your entire fleet. You
:21:51. > :21:55.do not have great resources. There is a massive problem. How can you
:21:55. > :22:05.guarantee security? With co- operation with the international
:22:05. > :22:07.
:22:07. > :22:13.community, Yemen can do the best job. There are some people who
:22:13. > :22:16.believe that Yemen is a failing state, if not a failed state. They
:22:16. > :22:23.look at the security institutions and they say they do not work, they
:22:23. > :22:28.are not capable of ensuring security. You are in the coastguard,
:22:28. > :22:35.you are a lieutenant. How do you respond to the charge that you are
:22:35. > :22:43.a part of a failing security state? Failure, I think it does not exist
:22:43. > :22:53.in the real life of Yemen, failure is in their minds. We are confident
:22:53. > :22:56.we are doing our jobs. Yemen faces so many problems. But it is moving
:22:56. > :23:06.forward. We have the encouragement and the confidence that we are
:23:06. > :23:08.
:23:08. > :23:15.attacking in the correct part and we are doing the right things. We
:23:15. > :23:24.are doing our best with our limited resources. We need support from the
:23:24. > :23:33.international community. Yemen's internal fault lines run
:23:33. > :23:39.deep. The sun has set on the President's rule, but powerful
:23:39. > :23:43.internal forces are pulling the nation apart. In Aden, they have
:23:43. > :23:46.lived with insecurity for generations. The rise of Al-Qaeda