Yemen: when terrorism overshadows a peaceful revolution

SANAA - Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen pledged its allegiance on Tuesday to Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the successor of Ossama Ben Laden, and new commander of the terrorist organisation. 
With the growing tension in this tribal country, democracy, reform and stability seem out of reach. The cause of the people in Yemen is simple, yet complicated.
For months now, they have been asking for the fall of president Ali Abdallah Saleh's regime. Saleh has been in power for over 30 years now, and did not appreciate the uprising against him. Faced with his stubbornness, people took to the streets.
He ignored their calls and made false promises like his (dictators) friends in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Syria. Well it seems he did not know his people well enough.
See Yemen is a tribal countries. Most of the tribal chiefs are extremely influential and powerful within their territories. And when they all stand together in face of one common ennemy... well the least you could say is that this poor fellow is in deep trouble.
On the 3rd of June, "someone" tried to kill president Saleh They failed, but managed to send him to a Saudi hospital for at least several months.
They were hoping this would help them start their own reform and seize control of the country.
Unfortunately, it's not as easy as it sounds.
This is where Al Qaeda comes in. These yemeni terrorists decided that the situation is the perfect opportunity for them to sabotage every possibility of reform and democracy in the country.
Consequently, U.S. policy towards Yemen became focused almost exclusively on terrorism, counter-terrorism, and al-Qaeda, according to a recent article published by Carnegie Middle-East program.
"In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Christopher Boucek warns that in addition to kinetic operations, Washington must do more to address the underlying sources of instability—a collapsing economy, rampant corruption, unemployment, and resource depletion—if Yemen is to avoid becoming a failed state and a breeding ground for terror", states the article.
Presently, the future isn't so bright for Yemen. With Saleh due back in power any day, a frustrated people and vicious terrorists waiting to wreak havoc, change is, for the moment, not for tommorrow.
Yet another country sinking in a war, within a war.