YOL- In an exclusive interview with Al-Arabiya Al-Hadath TV, Major General Aidarous Al-Zubaidi accused the current Vice President Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar of supporting terrorism and terrorist organizations, pointing to the frustration of Al-Ahmar and the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen to thwarting the plans of the Arab coalition within the war against the Houthis rebels . The Saudi  Al-Arabiya  deleted the meeting from the channel's websites and YouTube in a confused reaction, especially since Vice President Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar resides in Riyadh and enjoys full support from the Saudi side.

Al-Zubaidi's accusation came to confirm the US accusations contained in previous intelligence and media reports accusing Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar of being a source of concern to the West due to suspicious relations with Al-Qaeda and extremist terrorist organizations.

In March 2011, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy published a report on the current Vice President of Yemen, General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, accusing him of links to al-Qaeda in Yemen. The US report at the time shed light on Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar's involvement in supporting terrorism in the island and the Arabian Gulf, stressing his suspicious relationship with extremist organizations and terrorist groups, including his participation in their training.

The Washington Institute for Near Eastern Affairs  had published a report in which it noted the developments of the dangerous events sweeping Yemen and indicated that the West is deeply concerned about the developments of these events, especially those related to General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar. "The long-established extremist and terrorist organizations, whether in Yemen or abroad, should constitute a source of great concern to the West, given the threat posed by the Yemen-based "Al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula", Washington Institute mentioned .

According to press reports, the US Embassy in Yemen described Al-Ahmar in 2005 as the country's "most powerful" military commander but his "dealings and relationships with terrorists and extremists are questionable." Those dealings had been known for some time, including suspicions [of those who followed what was happening in Yemen] that Al-Ahmar was involved in training the Islamic extremist recruits.

As a November 2000 New York Times report stated, citing US intelligence sources, "Al-Ahmar traveled to Afghanistan in the 1989 to meet with Osama bin Laden, and helped recruit fighters from across the Muslim world to participate in the conflict in Afghanistan." Al-Ahmar was suspected of transporting the so-called "Afghan Arab" mujahideen from Afghanistan to Yemen, those militants who were no longer welcome in their countries of origin.

The newspaper added that Al-Ahmar "was responsible for managing funds amounting to 20 million dollars that bin Laden had given to help settle the Afghan Arab fighters in Yemen." According to an introductory description of Al-Ahmar Brigade, he "received partial training in Iraq and was close to the Yemeni Muslim Brotherhood, commanding artillery units in the northern military region, and responsible for the defense of the Sana'a , military region."

YemenOnline