A ticking time bomb?

Armed men are reported to have taken control of a provincial capital in the unsettled south of Yemen.

Government officials and residents said fighters from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) were among those who seized Zinjibar, in Abyan province.

But opponents said President Ali Abdullah Saleh had given up the town to stoke fears of a militant takeover.

He is resisting calls to step down, despite months of popular protests and growing opposition from a key tribe.

At least 124 people died in recent days in the capital, Sanaa, in clashes between government forces and fighters loyal to Hashid tribal leader Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar.

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"About 300 Islamic millitants and Al Qaeda men came into Zinjibar and took over everything on Friday," one resident told Reuters.

Conflicting interpretations of the loyalties of the armed men reflect the complex nature of military loyalties in Yemen.

While government officials said the men were AQAP, one analyst told the BBC they were in fact an older, more established group of fighters loyal to President Saleh and his now-rival, the defected army officer Ali Mohsen (who is also Mr Saleh's brother-in-law).

The government has blamed previous attacks in southern Yemen on al-Qaeda, but the country's opposition has accused President Saleh of stoking fears of an Islamist takeover.

AQAP is known to be active in southern Yemen, but the region is also home to a long-running separatist insurgency.

The group is described by the US as one of the world's most energetic al-Qaeda cells.

I've been writing the past few days about the potential for the Yemeni branch of Al-Qaeda to gain influence, power and followers during the current crisis in Yemen. Now comes word from the BBC that Al-Qaeda fighters have potentially taken a southern Yemeni town.

I have to assume that the West is involved in some way in what is going on and given the fact that they aren't bombing cities in Yemen like they are in Libya, it would be behind the scenes playing on influence and politics. Lets just hope that this strategy can avoid the growth of Al-Qaeda in Yemen and help to put a check on world terrorism in general.

Sometimes I just hate being a cynic.