Global media are reporting that Sheikh Abdul-Majeed al-Zendani has claimed that violence in the south of Yemen is part of a foreign plot to divide the country. According to one report:
An influential Islamist leader on Saturday claimed there were “foreign plans” aimed at dividing Yemen and called for a peace dialogue amid a wave of violence in the south of the Arabian Peninsula country. “There are foreign plans to divide Yemen into four small states through the so-called creative chaos,” Sheikh Abdul-Majeed al-Zendani told a news conference in Sana’a. Al-Zendani’s comments come after more than a week of violent protests and attacks by disgruntled separatist groups against police posts in southern Yemeni cities. Those groups have called for the south to secede from the rest of Yemen, since, they argue, the central government has marginalized the south. Dozens of casualties have been reported among protesters and security forces. Al-Zendani said about 500 religious scholars and tribal leaders held meetings in Sana’a during the past two days to discuss the ongoing violence in the south. In a statement handed over to journalists during the press conference, the leaders called on the Yemeni government and separatist southern groups to engage in dialogue to end the violence. “Chaos can not be creative, it is only destructive,” al-Zendani said. He said the violence in the south is “a strife that is intended to turn Yemen into small weak states.” Al-Zendani, who is on the US treasury department’s list of suspected financers of terrorism, said the division plan targets not only Yemen but all the Arab states. “Shall we help our foes to lead us into that path?” he questioned.
A previous post has discussed Zindani’s ties to both the global Muslim Brotherhood and to Al Qaeda.