Yemen: Radical Hizb al-Tahrir Resurfaces in the Middle East

The transnational pan-Islamist Hizb al-Tahrir has organized an unprecedented conference in Sanaa, the Yemeni Times reported Nov. 14. The conference signals that the HT — which has remained a clandestine political group since it was banned in the Arab Middle East in the 1950s — is resurfacing in the public domain. It is highly unlikely that the group held this event without government approval — which Sanaa probably granted because it has an interest in allowing HT to resurface. This will further complicate the already bitterly divisive character of Yemeni Islamism, which will prevent HT from emerging as a significant group in the short term. Nevertheless, its re-emergence has significant long-term implications for the stability of governments in the Arab and Muslim world.