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 A U.S.-backed military push by the Gulf ally could allow the
administration of President Barack Obama to help strike a fresh blow
against a group that has plotted to down U.S. airliners and claimed
responsibility for last year's attacks on the office of Charlie
Hebdo magazine in Paris.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has exploited the chaos of
Yemen's year-old civil war to become more powerful than any time in
its history, and now controls a swathe of the country.
The UAE has asked for U.S. help on medical evacuation and combat
search and rescue as part of a broad request for American air power,
intelligence and logistics support, the U.S. officials said. It was
unclear whether U.S. special operations forces - already stretched
thin by the conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan - were part of
the request.
The U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the UAE
was preparing for a campaign against AQAP, but declined to offer
details, citing operational security. The UAE is playing a key role
in the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen that are
loosely allied with Iran.
 The White House and the Pentagon declined to comment. Government
officials in the UAE did not respond to request for comment.
Washington's consideration of the request comes ahead of Obama's
planned trip next week to a summit of Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia.
The multiple conflicts in Yemen will be high on the agenda.
Saudi-backed Yemen government forces and the Houthi fighters began a
tentative truce on Sunday, although there have been reports of
violations.
Despite significant U.S. strikes, including one that killed AQAP's
leader last year, U.S. counter terrorism efforts have been
undermined by Yemen's civil strife.
The worsening conflict forced the evacuation in early 2015 of U.S.
military and intelligence personnel who had orchestrated an
anti-AQAP campaign involving Yemeni special forces raids backed by
U.S. air power.
Renewed ground operations spearheaded by UAE special forces would
fit the so-called "Obama doctrine" of relying mostly on local
partners instead of large-scale U.S. troop deployments. Washington’s
use of surrogate fighters has been criticized as inadequate in
conflicts ranging from Iraq to Syria to Afghanistan.
"LITTLE SPARTA"
The officials said the U.S. government's consideration of the UAE's
request in part reflected the Emirates' proven capabilities,
including well-trained and resourced special operations forces on
the ground.
Michael Knights, an expert on Yemen's conflict at the Washington
Institute for Near East Policy, said he and a colleague estimated
the UAE's presence in Yemen peaked at about 5,500 troops in
July-October of last year and now is as low as 2,500 personnel.
Knights said the UAE played a critical role in efforts by the
Saudi-led alliance to push back the Houthis, employing a mix of
capabilities, including mechanized infantry columns, that proved
decisive.
"The UAE has been the real central player in the ground war," he
said.
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In contrast, Saudi-led air strikes drew sharp condemnation from the
United Nation's top human rights official last month, who said the
coalition may be responsible for "international crimes."
In a nod to its capabilities, some U.S. military officials have
nicknamed UAE "Little Sparta" after the ancient city-state known for
its fighting prowess. Analysts note that the small Gulf state has
also played an outsized role in other conflicts, from Libya to
Afghanistan.
Frederic Wehry, a Middle East expert at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace and a U.S. Air Force veteran, said the UAE's
ability to combat AQAP would rest partly on its ability to navigate
Yemen's complex web of tribal allegiances.
UAE forces currently are concentrated mostly around the southern
port of Aden where the embattled Yemeni government has found safe
haven. But since retaking the city in mid-2015, they and local
forces have struggled to impose order, opening the way for al Qaeda
and Islamic State militants to operate there.
AQAP is estimated to now control 600 km (373 miles) of Yemeni
coastline and the southeastern port city of Mukalla, home to 500,000
people.
The fight against AQAP is of greater importance to the United States
than the battle against the Houthis, which until now has been a
higher priority for America's Gulf allies. The Gulf states see the
fight against the Houthis through the lens of a regional rivalry
with Shi'ite Iran.
One particular U.S. concern is Qassim al-Raymi, who last year
succeeded Nasser al-Wuhayshi as AQAP's military commander after a
U.S. drone strike killed Wuhayshi.
One U.S official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity,
said al-Raymi "appears to us to have intent as well as operatives
with capability to be able to do external plots."
The United States thinks there are dozens of AQAP operatives deemed
to be "true threats" capable of mounting external attacks, the
official added.
Washington also has long sought Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, considered
the most formidable extremist bomb designer. He is accused of a
creating hard-to-detect bombs, including one used in a failed
bombing of a U.S.-bound airliner in 2009.
The United States has continued a campaign of sporadic air strikes
in Yemen, including one in March on an AQAP training camp that
killed at least 50 suspected militants.
(Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumi. Editing by John Walcott,
Warren Strobel and Stuart Grudgings.)
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