Terror Cell Uncovered
Sanaa, 18 Dec. (AKI) – Security forces in Yemen have uncovered what they say is an al-Qaeda terrorist cell operating in the country’s capital Sanaa, a Saudi newspaper reported on Monday. Police carried out several raids on Saturday and Sunday arresting an undisclosed number of suspects. One of those picked up was the alleged ring-leader, a man identified as Jamil Ghurab, the report said.
Also among those arrested was Abdullah al-Dabibi whose name appears on a list of wanted al-Qaeda terrorists compiled by authorities. In September a group purporting to be al-Qaeda sad it was responsible for attacks against two petroleum plants in Yemen’s Mareb and Hadramawt regions.
Update: Interior Minister says Yemen faced 30 terror attacks since 2000. There’s quite a push on.
SANA’A- Deputy Minister of Interior Rashad al-Masri said Yemen has seen 30 terror acts and 50 violent crimes since 2000, adding security authorities foiled such acts and arrested perpetrators as well as terrorist groups who had been referred to justice.
Al-Masri noted Yemen adopted two measures in fighting against terrorism, the first of which being intellectual dialog with those who intended to carry out terrorist acts, while the other way is to follow and arrest those involved in such crimes, with taking strict measures against them. These measures succeeded in limiting terrorist acts, he added.
This came during a workshop on activating international conventions on counter-terrorism and putting them into effect. Al-Masri further noted that Yemen has ratified most of the counter-terrorism convention and enacted new laws to fight against terrorism by establishing the penal court, penal prosecution, national security apparatus, anti-terrorism apparatus.
More from the YO:
Some 30 terrorist operations have been carried out in Yemen since 2000, said Deputy Minister of the Interior, Mutahar Rashad. Meanwhile, security authorities last week arrested eight people suspected of have connections to al-Qaeda.
Official sources at the Ministry of Interior said the arrest was made after a long operation in the outskirts of Sana’a. Criminal security and national security forces were able, according to an official statement, to capture some of the most wanted al-Qaeda elements, including Abdullah al-Dhabibi and Jamil Ghurab.
An intensive maneuver by the security forces was launched by authorities after receiving threats attributed to the ‘al-Qaeda wing’ in Yemen. The threats included launching attacks on government, tourist and foreign facilities.
Yemeni authorities also received six national Guantanamo detainees during the last week, as a result of security coordination efforts between Yemen and the United States of America. Communication with American authorities is ongoing to release the remaining detainees in US custody upon charges of having connections to al-Qaeda, according to an official source at the Ministry of the Interior. Muhi al-Dabbi, first Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, told the Yemen Observer that the handover of those detainees came as a result of Yemen’s efforts to release all Yemenis detained abroad. “Yemen will continue working with the United States regarding the remaining detainees under its custody,” al-Dabbi said.
“The returnees will be well treated and will be exposed to rational and religious dialogue.” Yemen earlier received a list of 106 Yemeni nationals detained by the US in its efforts to combat global terrorism. However, the local authorities here are still working to verify the identities of the names listed. While Yemen received four Guantanamo detainees before the middle of 2005, visiting Amnesty International advocates said last year that there were around 150 to 160 Yemeni detainees in the Cuban base. On the same issue, security authorities announced the release of three of the eight arrested foreigners who are suspected of smuggling weapons to Somalia through a terrorist network.
An Australian, a Briton, and a Dane were released, according to the source, due to lack of evidence. One of the eight, a Somali, was sent to prosecution. Earlier, three foreigners from the group were released, including two Australians and a German, because they were not convicted. However, the release was not confirmed by family members of some of the foreigners reportedly released. Security forces managed, last September, to foil suicide attacks by al-Qaeda on oil facilities in Marib and Hadhramout governorates. In October, the security forces arrested a terror cell in Sana’a and killed two al-Qaeda fugitives.
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