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Arabia |
Yemen defends anti-terror record but wonât share al-Ahdal |
2003-11-30 |
While Sanaa has staunchly defended its cooperation in the global war on terror, a security official said that it will not succumb to US pressure and share its prized catch: Al Qaedaâs Yemen leader. âThe United States has been exerting pressure on Yemeni authorities to allow them to interrogate Adhal directly, but this has been refused,â the Yemeni official told AFP on Saturday. On Friday, the interior ministry confirmed it arrested Tuesday Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal, alias Abu Issam al-Makki, whom they believe to be the top figure in the countryâs branch of Osama bin Ladenâs terror network. The ministry said it had nabbed Saudi-born Ahdal in a sting operation in Sanaa, after a cohort of Ahdal was arrested in early November. âHedi Dalqam, an Al Qaeda activist was arrested at the start of November,â the official said describing him as a âcolleagueâ of Ahdal. Yemeni authorities believe Ahdal replaced Ali Qaed Sunian al-Harithi, alias Abu Ali al-Harithi after the former Al Qaeda Yemen chief was killed with five others in a November 2002 missile attack by the US Central Intelligence Agency in the desert region of al-Naqaa in Marib province, east of Sanaa. But a London-based Saudi newspaper said Thursday that some US officials âdoubt the truth of announcements made by Sanaa regarding anti-terror operations.â Asharq Al-Awsat also said, âsome US weapons sold to the Yemeni government were smuggled to Saudi terrorists.â This prompted a sharp rebuke by Yemeni authorities Friday who slammed the âfalseâ newspaper report aimed at misleading âworld opinion over Yemenâs serious and decisive position in fighting terror and undermining the growing relations between Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the United States.â âYemen will not succumb to any form of blackmail irrespective of its nature and source,â said an interior ministry official quoted by the countryâs official news agency Saba. The United States said last week that it was in the process of âconfirmingâ Ahdalâs arrest, adding that he may have been involved in the October 2000 attack against the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden. As proof of Yemenâs commitment to the fight against terror, the official said Ahdalâs arrest was announced âfour hoursâ after it took place Tuesday. He also said cooperation between Yemen and Saudi Arabia in the fight against terror was on the rise following the signing of an agreement between the two countries in June to boost security measures at the border to prevent arms smuggling and infiltration. The official said Yemen handed over to Saudi Arabia at the end of October a group of 10 failed Saudi asylum seekers, including the body of one that died in hospital, but did not say if the group was wanted by Saudi authorities in connection with recent attacks there. Yemen is bin Ladenâs ancestral homeland and is viewed as a hotbed of |
Posted by:Dan Darling |
#1 Anybody have a take on this article? Could it be that Yemen is saying in public that it won't allow US access to al-Ahdal, but privately allowing the US to interrogate him? |
Posted by: Mark 2003-11-30 1:44:46 PM |