Updated: AQAP demands release of General’s Operative and Possible Kidnapper of German family
Update: Click here for the report August 27 on the kidnapping of Ali Hosam by the al Tais family which references their living in Abu Jubarah, extremist affiliations, military commissions and the similarities to the Germans’ kidnapping.
Original: A more coherent summary:
In August, the Houthi rebels captured al Qaeda leader Hussain al Tais in the al Jawf province of Yemen. Al Tais is head of the al Qaeda group active in the Sa’ada province. The group is long thought to report to General Ali Mohsen al Ahmar, the president’s half brother and commander of the six wars against the (Zaidi Shiite) Houthi rebels in the northernmost Sa’ada province. The use of jihaddists as mercenaries by various branches of the military and intelligence is common in Yemen.
Upon capture, the rebels transferred al Tais to the Political Security office in Sa’ada. Yesterday al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) issued a statement indicating the terror group had kidnapped the deputy head of intelligence in Sa’ada, Ali Hosam Mohammed Saleh AQAP has demanded the release of al Tais in exchange for Hosam with a 48 hour deadline that expires Wednesday.
The al Tais al Qaeda group in Sa’ada is suspected to be behind the kidnapping of nine westerners in June 2009 in Sa’ada. Three young nurses were murdered immediately. Two toddlers were released into Saudi custody in May 2010. An infant boy, his German parents and a British man remain unaccounted for in Yemen. The nine were kidnapped near the area of the Political Security, and while Yemen immediately accused the Houthi rebels, the operation bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda. The Houthi rebels have never attacked civilians or Westerners.
Today 200 of the al Tais clan demonstrated in the capital Sanaa for the release of Hussain al Tais. With the clock ticking, the ability of German intelligence to interrogate al Tais about the remaining hostages is questionable. The fact that AQAP is agitating for a known affiliate of General Al Ahmar should put to rest questions on the degree of enmeshment between the al Qaeda terror group in Yemen and some elements of the state.
In related news, al Qaeda member Badr al Hassani, on trial for an attempted assassination of UK ambassador Tim Torlot, said yesterday in court that the head of the Yemeni Political Security Organization (PSO) had paid him to train al Qaeda terrorists in hand to hand combat in Marib province. Al Hassani demanded Ghalib al Qamish, the head of the PSO, be summoned to the trial to testify on his behalf.
