SANAA, March 31 (YPA) -General Mohsen Saleh al-Ahmar, leader of the Islah Party and influential officer in the Saudi-backed mercenary army, has sent a message of condolence to relatives of al-Qaeda leaders in the Arabian Peninsula, who were killed in the Dhalea front by the Yemeni army attack.
According to pro-Saudi-led coalition media, the so-called “Vice-President of the Republic, Lieutenant General Ali Mohsen Saleh,” has sent condolences over the death of Al-Qaeda terrorist leaders Dr. Mohammed al-Khairani, Abdulqadir al-Dais, and Saleh al-Qadi in the area of Morais.
Al-Khairani, al-Dais and al-Qadi were very well known as al-Qaeda’s top leaders in Yemen, operating under the umbrella of the Islah Party (the Muslim Brotherhood branch in Yemen). They were also senior leaders close to General Mohsen under his command of the First Armored Division in the capital Sana’a before the 2014 Revolution.
General al-Ahmar has appeared in several photographs close to the three al-Qaeda leaders.
Observers considered their appearance alongside with Mohsen “a witness to the association between al-Islah (Muslim Brotherhood) and al-Qaeda.”
General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar has previously always denied his connection to al-Qaeda, stated that he has not enabled the training of al-Qaeda elements in his military camps in the northern and eastern military regions. In this region, especially the triangle of Ma’rib, Bayda, and Shabwah provinces, al-Ahmar has been an influential military figure for a long time.
Al-Islah itself has also continued to deny its association with Al-Qaeda, although Islah leaders have avoided any condemnation or criticism of al-Qaeda and its crimes against civilians and the Yemeni army, security and state facilities. Even more, a number of al-Islah leaders have openly tried to justify Al-Qaeda, calling on the state to “open a dialogue with them”.
E.M