Yemen’s most influential Islamic cleric warned the Yemeni government against allowing a “foreign occupation” of the country. Sheikh Abdul-Majid al-Zindani also criticized the US and Britain for scheduling a conference in London to discuss the future of Yemen.

Sheikh Abdul-Majid al-Zindani: “We were surprised by the calling of the London conference, which means that the Yemeni government is a failure. The advisers know that this conference is to declare the failure of this government.”

Sheikh al-Zindani raised suspicions that the United States intends to send troops to seize Yemen’s oil resources and strategic Red Sea and Gulf of Aden coastlines if Yemen’s government collapses. The United States has accused the sheikh of having ties to al-Qaeda, but Yemen’s government has openly allied with him in the past and still courts his support.