The Pied Piper of Jihad

The Pied Piper of Jihad In Yemen, pressure from Western governments to uncover terrorists is harshening an already repressive regime. It is driving Muslims into the hands of Anwar Al Awlaki and his fundamentalist training camps.
"The Yemeni government exaggerates the importance of Al Qaeda to get financial support". That is the opinion of Abdul. He is accusing the Yemeni government of putting Australian Muslim Shyloh Giddins in jail under pressure from Western governments. It is cases like Shyloh's that are radicalising an increasing number of Muslims. Samir, who has visited several terrorist camps, tells us that he has seen many Australians and Europeans there. According to Barbara Bodine, US foreign service, Yemen is number one on the list of places for potential terrorists to go. Anwar Al Awlaki is central to that, "We've turned him into a perverse kind of hero for them", she says. Yet Alwaki's strength is he seems to have gone through the same alienation his followers did. According to Imam Johari, on Al Awlaki's return to Yemen in 2004 he was tortured by the Yemeni's, who said, "Your government asked us to do this to you". Johari claims it is this injustice that drives people to join Al Qaeda. The worry is, as Bodine points out, if they can recruit people who don't fit profiles they have a powerful weapon on their hands.

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