Yemen President: war on al-Qaeda has not started yet

President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi vowed on April 5 to fight al-Qaeda offshoot in Yemen, which has caused high death toll among government forces and a wave of displacement in the militant’s controlled areas.

Yemen launched a campaign against terrorism in all Yemen's capital's schools. In the picture a religous sheikh preaches girls of al-Khansa school over terror impacts.

 “The real battle against the terrorist al-Qaeda organization has yet to begin and will not end until we have eradicated their presence in every district, village and position; it will not end until internally displaced citizens are assured that they can return safely to their homes…,”Hadi said before military graduates at the Yemeni Military Academy in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a.
Fighting between government troops and al-Qaeda offshoot in Yemen, known as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), have intensified last month amid the latter’s bid to control more territories in the southern Abyan province.
 Hadi said that the fight would continue until “organized terrorist operatives have surrendered their weapons and rid themselves of ideologies that contradict the sacred values of the Islamic religion.”
Hadi said that he will put an end to the army split which he said have helped AQAP to regroup in several southern provinces.
 “I will not allow divisions in the military to continue nor will I allow the military to deviate from its core duties. There should only be a single command for the military, a single command for law enforcement and a single Commander in Chief,” said Hadi.
 Since he was elected as a consensus president in an uncontested election last February, Hadi has embarked on a big military shakeup his predecessor’s loyalists described as “biased” as it had dismissed three key military commanders loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
He also said that Yemeni signatories to the GCC plan, which have resolved political unrest amid the popular anti-government protest since last year, must comply with the provisions of GCC plan. Hadi said the plan has succeeded in pulling fingers away from the triggers of rifles and encouraging factions to resume dialogue.
“Political parties must follow through on the commitments they made when they signed the GCC initiative and its implementation mechanism, halting offensive rhetoric against each other, and launching new policies that promote respect and the right to disagree; in order to affirm peaceful social values, mend the shattered souls, and wipe out provocative thoughts of partition.”
 The GCC pan has already seen a formation of the coalition government shared evenly between Yemeni rivals. The national dialogue stands as a second stage of the GCC plan and will address grievances of the other Yemeni factions which were not included in the first phase of the GCC plan.  “I strongly belief that political factions should reconsider policies that emanate from animosity and adopt the virtues of tolerance which is in our national interest, particularly as we prepare to convene the National Conference on Dialogue,” said Hadi.
  He added that, “retaliatory and inciting media campaigns by the political parties that have signed the GCC initiatives need to stop and political parties must embrace a reconciliatory tone in accordance with the essence of partnership set forth by the GCC initiative, in order to calm the ongoing crisis so the process of dialogue moves forward.”
 Hadi has also criticized the state-run media outlets as he said it failed to comply with government’s policies. “I will not forget today, to point the finger at the chiefs of official media who have appeared unruly lately and have failed to comprehend their principal duties. A state media outlet is definitely different from political and privately owned media organizations. Official media is responsible for committing to the state and cabinet policies, establishing responsible media to promote the values of national unity, social ideals and lobby for the concerns and aspirations of the citizens by exposing documented corruption cases,” Hadi concluded.

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