Armies of Liberation

Sana’a, NewsYemen

Member of Shoura council Abdullah al-Mujaidie said that the security apparatuses had received information confirming that al-Qaeda plotting to carry out attacks on tourists.

Al-Mujaidie said in a session for Al-Shoura on Tuesday to discuss a report on the situation of tourist institutions that the Political Security agent in Marib informed the security in a meeting last week that he could get information that al-Qaeda held a meeting on the same day to plan for the suicide attack that killed seven Spanish tourists and two Yemenis and injured six Spaniards and six Yemenis Monday.

Al-Mujaidie condemned the careless of security apparatuses which, he said, did not take enough measures to thwart the attack and did not deal with the warning information seriously.

He described the attack as “crime and shame”, urging the government to annihilate al-Qaeda in Yemen.

Head of Shoura council Abdul-Aziz Abdul-Ghani said the operation comes in a series of similar events in different places of the world which target not only tourism in Yemen, but also democracy, development and economies, as he sasd.

“The best response to this cowardly terror attack is to go on supporting president Saleh and development process in the country and to fight terror and extremism, said Abdul-Ghani.

Update: spate of cancellations

Sana’a, NewsYemen

The secretary-general of the General Hotels Union Tawfiq al-Khamiri said that some Yemeni hotels have received requests from foreign tourists convoys from different countries to cancel their reservations after the terror attack on a convoy of Spanish tourists in Marib last Monday.

“The Marib attack killed Yemeni tourism which have just started to re-attract tourists in the last two years said al-Khamiri, who is also chairman of the Yemeni Company for Hotels and Investment.

He said that Italian and Japanese tourists left the country after the attack in Marib.

Al-Khamiri told NewsYemen the condemnations are “meaningless”, if the government does take hard actions against terror and open a dialogue with those youth militants who do not differentiate between a political conflict and blood and rights of innocent people, as he said.

He urged the government to adopt a real dialogue on terror reasons and to tighten security to secure the economic facilities.

Meanwhile, Yemeni Businessmen and Investors Council condemned the “cowardly criminal act”, expressing sympathy with families of victims.

It called the state’s military and civil institutions and private organizations to stand against terrorists “who target the people’s interests”. “The security should be more active to thwart such attacks and to develop security measures,” the statement said.

It is said that two flights from Madrid to Sana’a, 7 and 14 July, have been suspended with other flights.

Update: 14 arrested, could be a random rounding up for the international media

Sana`a (ANTARA News) – Yemeni police have arrested 14 suspects linked to Monday`s car bomb attack that killed seven Spanish tourists and two Yemenis in north-central Yemen, police officials said Wednesday.

A senior police official told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the arrests were made in the capital Sana`a and three other provinces including Marib, in which the attack took place.

“Three suspects were arrested in Sana`a today (Wednesday) and 11 others in Aden, Shabwa and Marib,” said the official, who asked anonymity.

He said the arrests in Aden, Shabwa and Marib were made late on Tuesday.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Tuesday the suicide bomber who hit a convoy carrying Spanish tourists was not a Yemeni citizen.

Six other Spanish tourists were injured in the car bomb attack that occurred near an archaeological site in Marib, around 190 kilometres north-east of Sana`a.

Yemeni government officials blamed the attack on the terrorist network al-Qaeda.

The attack occurred when the tourists were returning from a visit to the temple of the Queen of Saba in four vehicles preceded and followed by two Yemeni security vehicles.

When the convoy entered a tarmac road leading to the capital, a suicide car hit two vehicles travelling in the middle of the convoy, DPA reported. (*)

Egyptian? 50?

July ,2007- Well-informed source affirmed to (Alsahwa.net)that security forces found on Thursday corpse of an Egyptian suspected in a role in Monday’s car bomb suicide attack which killed nine people.

Security forces had killed the man on Wednesday’s night in shootout after they tried to raid his home.

The sources explained that the suspect, 50, was married a Yemeni woman and worked as an accountant in a Yemeni company.

7/5 update

SANA’A (26sep.net) – Police killed, on Wednesday, in Sana’a City a suspect involving in Monday Marib attack which targeted a group of Spanish tourists, a source in the Supreme Security Committee said on Thursday.

According to the source, the police attacked a terror flat where the suspect Ahmed Basioni Doidar, an Egyptian, was keeping himself.

When the police broke into the suspect flat, he opened fire against them injuring an officer and other five soldiers.

The police have found explosive materials, fake documents and passports in the suspect’s flat, the sources said.

The source added that investigations show that the suspect is one of the terror leaders that participated in plotting for the terror attack in Marib.

Reuters: “The killed terrorist is called Ahmad Basyouni Dwedar,” the ministry Web site, www.26sep.net, quoted a source at the supreme security committee as saying.