Al-Qaida leader says group fought alongside US-backed forces in Yemen

‘The leader of al-Qaida’ branch in Yemen said that his militants have often fought alongside Yemeni government factions — remarks that could embarrass the U.S.-backed coalition fighting the impoverished Arab country’s Shiite rebels.
Qasim al-Rimi leads the group known as Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, considered by Washington to be the most dangerous offshoot of the global terror network. He succeeded Nasir al-Wuhayshi, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike nearly two years ago.
On the U.S. most-wanted list with a $5 million reward for his capture, al-Rimi has been a top target of U.S. airstrikes, which have soared in the past four months in southern Yemen. He spoke on Sunday to AQAP’s media arm al-Malahem from an undisclosed location in Yemen.
“We fight along all Muslims in Yemen, together with different Islamic groups,” he said, adding that his followers have teamed up with an array of factions — including the ultraconservative Salafis, “the Muslim Brotherhood and also our brothers among the sons of (Sunni) tribes” — against Yemen’s Shiite rebels known as Houthis.’
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