The next battlefield? Long a haven for Islamic radicals, Yemen is becoming a key front in the fight against terrorism.

• Author: Erlanger, Stephen
• Position: INTERNATIONAL

Until recently, most Americans didn't give Yemen much, if any, thought. But on Christmas Day, a 23-year-old Nigerian who was trained and equipped by Islamic militants in Yemen tried to blow up a plane with 278 passengers as it approached Detroit for a landing. Thanks to the quick intervention of passengers he failed, but suddenly, news about Yemen was everywhere.

While Yemen has long been a haven for Islamic radicals, it's now becoming an important front in the battle against terrorism, even as the United States and its allies continue to fight two wars in the region, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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"The instability in Yemen is a threat to regional stability and even global stability," says Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Al Qaeda, the Islamic terrorist group that masterminded the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., has flourished in Yemen because much of this country of 23 million is in turmoil: The government has been fighting two separate rebellions in the north and the south.

"There are large areas of the country where there is no electricity, no running water, and no central authority," says Murad Zafir, a Yemeni political analyst.

Yemen is the poorest country in the Arab world, with 45 percent of its people illiterate and half living on less than $2 a day. It suffers from a severe water shortage, and its economy is based on oil that's expected to run out in this decade. What Yemen does have in abundance is weapons: It's believed to have more than 20 million guns.

RICH HISTORY

It also has a rich history. With its location at the southwestern end of the Arabian Peninsula, ancient Yemen grew rich from the spice trade. So rich that the Romans called it Arabia Felix ("Happy Arabia") and Augustus Caesar tried, but failed, to annex it.

In recent centuries, Yemen was partly controlled by the Ottoman Empire and later partly by the British. Colonial rule didn't end completely until 1967, and Yemen wasn't united into a single nation until 1990.

The country's extreme topography, with rugged mountains and remote deserts, helped create impenetrable fortresses for warring tribes, which have long attacked government officials and foreign tourists, as well as one another. All this--and Yemen's strategic geographic position--has allowed Al Qaeda to expand significantly, creating training camps, attacking Western targets, and receiving increasing popular sympathy, Yemeni and American officials say.

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