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Arabia
Report: Qaida Moved U.S. Hostage ahead of Yemen Raid
2014-11-28
Mahmoud the Weasel has friends on both sides, donchaknow...
[AnNahar] Al-Qaeda bully boyz holding an American journalist in Yemen moved him and two other foreign hostages just days before a raid to free him, a Yemeni defense ministry website said.

The journalist as well as a Brit and a South African are among several hostages held by al-Qaeda in the violence-wracked country, according to the ministry's 26Sep.net news website.

On Tuesday, Yemeni special forces, said to have been backed by U.S. commandos, raided an al-Qaeda hideout in Hajr As-Saghir, in the southeastern province of Hadramawt, to free the captives.

Eight hostages -- six Yemenis, a Saudi and an Æthiopian -- were freed in the operation, in which seven gunnies were killed, Yemeni security officials said at the time.

The ministry website reported late Wednesday that hours before the raid the bully boyz moved the American journalist, the Briton and the South African.

A Yemeni hostage and a fifth person believed to be Turkish were also moved, said the report, quoting a member of the Yemeni special forces who had spoken to one of the freed hostages.

The special forces member was identified as Abu Maruf, but the website provided no further details or official confirmation.

The New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
, quoting American and Yemeni officials, said on Wednesday that U.S. Special Operations commandos carried out a raid with Yemeni troops to try to free the American captive.

"But when the commandos swooped in on the mountain cave where they believed the American was being held, they found eight other hostages, including six Yemenis, but not the American," it said.

The newspaper added that it had initially withheld the information "at the request of the B.O. regime," out of concern for the safety of the American hostage.

The Times said it was withholding the name of the captive journalist.

Abu Maruf told 26Sep.net that the operation followed intelligence information that al-Qaeda bully boyz were holding hostages, "including a number of foreigners."

Al-Qaeda is active in southern and eastern Yemen, especially in Hadramawt, where the authority of the central government is weak.

A South African teacher, Pierre Korkie, was kidnapped by al-Qaeda bully boyz in May last year along with his wife Yolande, who was released in January.
Posted by:trailing wife

#1  The newspaper added that it had initially withheld the information "at the request of the B.O. regime," out of concern for the safety of the American hostage. The Times said it was withholding the name of the captive journalist.

Which proves they can withhold names and other vital data - if they want to.
Posted by: Pappy   2014-11-28 11:21  

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