| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: WoT |
| Plane bomb suspect joined al-Qaeda in London |
| 2010-01-08 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] A Nigerian man accused of the attempted bombing of a U.S.-bound plane on Christmas Day was recruited by al-Qaeda in London and met a radical American Muslim cleric in Yemen, a top Yemeni official said on Thursday. Yemen, the poorest Arab country, was thrust into the foreground of the U.S.-led war against Islamist militants after a Yemen-based wing of al-Qaeda said it was behind the failed bombing. "The information provided to us is that Omar Farouk (Abdulmutallab) joined al-Qaeda in London," Rashad al-Alimi, Yemen's Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security, told a news conference. Abdulmutallab, son of a prominent Nigerian banker, is believed to have embraced extreme religious views during trips to Yemen to study Arabic and Islam. He also studied engineering at University College London between 2005 and 2008. Alimi said that Abdulmutallab had met Muslim preacher Anwar al-Awlaki during his time in Yemen -- a U.S.-born cleric linked to the gunman who ran amok at the Fort Hood U.S. army base in Texas in November. A Yemeni security official said last month that Awlaki may have been killed in a strike on al-Qaeda militants, but other reports say he escaped and is on the run. Yemen, located on the Arabian Peninsula's strategically important southern tip, is trying to fight a threat from resurgent al-Qaeda fighters as well as quash a Shiite revolt in the north and separatist sentiment in the south. The authorities launched an operation this week to root out al-Qaeda militants who they said were behind threats that forced Western embassies to close on Sunday. The raid, which killed two militants, allayed U.S. concerns and allowed the heavily fortified U.S. embassy to reopen. Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi told CNN that fighting al-Qaeda was "the priority and the responsibility of our security forces and the army." Asked whether it would accept direct U.S. intervention, he said: "No, I don't think we will accept that. I think the U.S., as well, has learned from Afghanistan and Iraq and other places that direct intervention can be self-defeating." The foiled Christmas Day bombing has turned a spotlight on the growing prominence of al-Qaeda in Yemen and the expanding role of the U.S. military and spy agencies in fighting it. |
| Posted by:Fred |