Original: Nice! The death of Ibrahim al Asiri is huge and should quell any whining doubting the threat from Anwar, who in reality was fully operational, focused on the US and associated with numerous plots. Al Asiri was responsible for the bomb in the assassination plot on Saudi Prince Naif, the Nigerian’s underwear bomb, the toner cartridges on the UPS plane, and they were experimenting with poisons including the poison perfume plot and there was the warning about riacin and the castor beans. Bad news dudes all around.

The fact that the Saudi bomb maker al Asiri was in the car with two American al Qaeda jihaddists shows in itself what they were up to. The drone strike likely saved the lives of untold thousands and whether Yemenis believe it or not, saved a lot of misery for the Yemeni people. Also the strike was executed perfectly in that there were no civilians anywhere around.

There has been some confusion that the location of Awlaki’s death (al Jawf en route to Marib) means he wasn’t involved in AQAP (??!! really I read that today) or their occupation of Zinjibar; however, earlier reports indicated the terrorists brought items looted from Abyan residents to Marib to be divided up there, causing tension along regional lines.

Now that they are dead, lets get back to the war of ideas and support representative democracy, equal rights and freedom of the press.

There’s less much grumbling about the strike in Yemen than there is in the US, beyond the expected statement by HOOD. Actually many Yemenis are happy to be free of the burden of Anwar and all are cursing AQAP because of the atrocities the fanatics are committing in Abyan, including executing a suspected witch and another man after a dispute ( link to vid here) and cutting off a teen’s arm for stealing. The boy later died. Over 100,000 fled al Qaeda when they took control of, and looted, the provincial capital Zinjibar and the families are living in schools in Aden since May.

Yesterday’s anti-government protests by millions around Yemen was themed in unity with and support of the Syrian people’s struggle against Assad. A secondary theme was in rejection of the fatwa, requested by President Saleh and delivered by 500 state clerics, that finds public demonstrations against the state and for regime change are illegitimate under Islam. I am quite concerned by the fatwa; through the years, Saleh fatwa’d his opposition before attacking them. Nonetheless I am trying to convince the Yemeni protesters to adopt AC/DC’s Highway to Hell as a theme song.

Saleh continues to dissemble, as he will unto infinity, saying that the protests have to end before the VP can sign the GCC initiative: He pointed out that signing of the Vice President to the initiate depends on the readiness of the other side, adding that the Gulf initiative states to remove the causes of tension as tension elements are known to all and power can not be transferred without implementing this item. Saleh also says General Ali Mohsen and Hamid al Ahmar should leave Yemen before he does. The only bright spot is that Sec. Clinton appears to have moved off the GCC plan to an agreement of principles; nonetheless Saleh has never been motivated to any action by what is in the best interests of the Yemeni people. He only operates in self-interest although not in a rational manner.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two US officials say the drone strike in Yemen that killed Anward al-Awlaki appears to have also killed al-Qaida’s top Saudi bomb-maker.

Officials say intelligence indicates Ibrahim al-Asiri also died in the attack. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the death has not been officially confirmed.

Al-Asiri is the bomb-maker believed to have made the explosives used in the foiled Christmas Day airline attack in 2009 and last year’s attempted cargo plane bombing.

Al-Asiri’s death would make the attack perhaps the most successful single drone strike ever.

(HT: Weasel Zippers)

Riyadh, 4 Aug. (AKI) – A Saudi fugitive accused of being a member Al-Qaeda and hiding in neighbouring Yemen recently turned himself in to police in Saudi Arabia, according to newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat.

Salam al-Faraj, known by nom de guerre Zayd al-Qasimi, surrendered to authorities in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, the newspaper said in a Thursday report.

He was considered the second-most dangerous terrorist on Saudi Arabia’s list of 47 Saudi’s accused of having links with Al-Qaeda, the Saudi newspaper said.

Saudi Arabia in January published a list of 47 names of the country’s most-wanted Al-Qaeda fugitives thought to be residing outside the country. Forty-five still remain at large and are believed to be hiding in Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Znews: Riyadh: Al Qaeda planned to use a powerful poison in a failed attempt to blow up a Saudi deputy interior minister in 2009, a former militant from the terror network said in reports on Wednesday.

Jaber al-Faifi was quoted as saying by the daily Al-Hayat that “al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had planned to add poison to the 800 grams of explosives” used in the suicide bombing that nearly killed Prince Mohammed bin Nayef.

But AQAP’s “military leader in Yemen, Qassim al-Rimi, inadvertently failed” to add the poison which can within seconds kill any person wounded by such an explosion, Faifi said on Saudi television.

Faifi said the explosive device was prepared by Ibrahim al-Asiri, an alleged Saudi bomb maker who figures on most-wanted terror lists in both Yemen and Saudi Arabia and suspected by the United States of being behind two US-bound bomb parcels sent from Yemen in October.

AQAP claimed the August 2009 attack against Prince Mohammed, a royal family member who leads the kingdom’s anti-terror fight, only several months after it formed from the merger of al Qaeda’s Yemeni and Saudi branches.

Faifi, a former Guantanamo detainee who rejoined al Qaeda in Yemen after graduating from Saudi Arabia’s rehabilitation programme, turned himself in through Yemen’s authorities in October 2010.

Kingdom seeks Interpol help to arrest 47 terror suspects ARAB NEWS Published: Jan 10, 2011

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia on Sunday published a list of 47 wanted terror suspects abroad who are believed to be planning attacks in the country. The Kingdom has asked for Interpol’s help to track them down.

Spokesman for the Interior Ministry Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said most of the 47 suspects, all Saudi nationals, left the country illegally.

“A number of them pose a big danger as they are involved in Al-Qaeda terrorist operations. We passed a list of them to Interpol last Wednesday,” Al-Turki told reporters.

He said the suspects are aged between 18 and 40. “We have got information that 16 of them are in Yemen, 27 in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and four in Iraq,” he added…The spokesman said the ministry had received information that some of the suspects were playing a leadership role in Al-Qaeda. “We have not listed Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Al-Jasser, who is No. 1 in the new list, in any previous list because we list people only after receiving enough evidence about their role in the terror network,” he added…Al-Turki referred to Al-Qaeda’s efforts to recruit children including orphans to carry out terrorist operations inside and outside the Kingdom. He disclosed the ministry’s plan to present a television program on how Al-Qaeda recruited two orphans.

He also downplayed suggestions that family ties were the main factor in helping Al-Qaeda recruitment.

“There are different reasons such as friendship and use of Internet websites. We don’t have any information about family relationship of suspects in the new list and previous lists,” he said.

He highlighted the role of the Internet in spreading Al-Qaeda’s deviant ideology. “According to one study, the first step for joining Al-Qaeda and subscribing to its ideology is the Internet,” he said… The following are the suspects: 1) Ahmed Abdul Aziz Al-Jasser, 2) Ahmed Muhammad Al-Suwaid, 3) Anas Ali Al-Nashwan, 4) Bassim Salim Al-Sabilah, 5) Bassim Muhammad Al-Johani, 6) Bassam Ibrahim Al-Suleimani, 7) Bandar Mishal Al-Otaibi, 8) Turki Saad Al-Shahrani, 9) Turki Hadi Al-Qahtani, 10) Hussein Saleh Al-Bahri, 11) Hamza Muhammad Arishi, 12) Khaled Ali Al-Qahtani, 13) Khaled Hadal Al-Qahtani, 14) Zaam Saeed Al-Otaibi, 15) Saad Qaed Al-Maqati, 16) Suleiman Ahmed Al-Hamdan, 17) Saleh Abdul Aziz Al-Laheeb, 18) Adel Radi Al-Harbi, 19) Adel Saleh Al-Qumaishi, 20) Abdul Rahman Abdul Aziz Al-Faraj, 21) Abdul Rahman Fayad Al-Otaibi, 22) Abdul Rahman Muhammad Al-Johani, 23) Abdussalam Abdul Aziz Al-Faraj, 24) Abdul Aziz Muhammad Al-Aseeri, 25) Abdullah Humaid Al-Jadaani, 26) Abdullah Suleiman Al-Dhabah, 27) Abdullah Abdul Hadi Al-Johani, 28) Abdullah Ali Al-Suwaid, 29) Abdullah Muhammad Al-Maqati, 30) Abdul Majeed Faris Al-Otaibi, 31) Abdul Majeed Faisal Al-Shahri, 32) Amr Suleiman Al-Ali, 33) Fahd Owaid Al-Maabadi, 34) Fawaz Ayed Al-Otaibi, 35) Fawaz Owaid Al-Maabadi, 36) Faisal Muetad Al-Harbi, 37) Miteb Hamad Al-Jeraiwi, 38) Miteb Saeed Al-Amri, 39) Muhammad Saleem Barikan, 40) Muhammad Farhan Al-Malki, 41) Muhammad Mufreh Al-Zahrani, 42) Maran Farhan Al-Otaibi, 43) Muejib Muhammad Al-Qahtani, 44) Hashim Muhammad Al-Hindi, 45) Walid Jarboue Al-Harbi, 46) Walid Humayed Al-Waladi, and 47) Yasser Dakhil Al-Harbi.

Shamar Press – Nasser Hagbani

بين المليونين الذين أدوا الركن الخامس من أركان الإسلام، حاج يحتفظ بأسرار تنظيم إرهابي يعمل على استهداف أمن المملكة ويتخذ اليمن مقراً. Among the two million who performed the fifth pillar of Islam, the pilgrim keeps the secrets of a terrorist organization works to target the security of Saudi Arabia and Yemen to take home. فقد مكّنت السلطات السعودية التائب جابر الفيفي من أداء مناسك الحج هذا العام. Saudi authorities have allowed the penitent Jaber Alfaifi of performing Hajj this year. وكان سلّم نفسه إلى السلطات السعودية بعد التنسيق مع نظيرتها اليمنية في محافظة لودر في أيلول (سبتمبر) الماضي، وأسقط اسمه من قائمة المطلوبين من عناصر تنظيم «القاعدة». He surrendered to Saudi authorities in coordination with counterparts in the Yemeni province of Lauder in September (September) the past, dropped his name from the list of most wanted members of the organization «base».

وأوضح موسى الفيفي، شقيق The Alfaifi Moses, the brother of

التائب لـ «الحياة»، أن وزارة الداخلية مكّنت شقيقه جابر من إتمام مناسك الحج، وعرض عليه اختيار أحد من أفراد أسرته ممن يرغبون في أداء الشعيرة الدينية معه. Taib told «life», the Ministry of Interior has enabled his brother Jaber complete the Hajj, and offered him a choice of family members who wish to perform religious ritual with him.

وقال شقيقه إن جابر أتم نسكه مع شقيقه عادل في أجواء روحانية بعيدة من القيود، ضمن حملة خاصة لوزارة الداخلية، وسط إجراءات مسهلة في تنقلاتهم بين المشاعر بكل يسر وسهولة. His brother said that Jaber completed his pilgrimage with his brother, just in the spiritual atmosphere far from the restrictions, under a special campaign of the Ministry of the Interior, the center of simplified procedures in their movement between emotions very easily.

وأشار إلى أن جابر عاد بعد أداء المناسك إلى الرياض، حيث تستكمل معه الإجراءات بعد تسليمه نفسه إلى السلطات. He pointed out that Jaber returned after performing the rites to Riyadh, where he completed the same procedures after being handed over to the authorities.

al Masdar: What is behind the deterioration of the relationship and lack of trust between the security of Yemen and Saudi Arabia?

Along with several other things, the incident revealed “packages” recent deep crisis of confidence between the security of Yemen and the Saudi government, and apparently it is a reflection of the deteriorating relationship between the two regimes, or vice versa.
وكانت السلطات الأمنية السعودية قد أبلغت واشنطن بمعلومات تضمنت أرقام بوليصات شحن الطرود التي أرسلت من اليمن وكانت في طريقها للولايات المتحدة، الأمر الذي ساهم في ضبط الطرود بمطاري دبي ولندن، وفي نفس الوقت فاجأ السلطات الأمنية اليمنية التي علمت بالخبر من الجانب الأمريكي رغم الاتفاقات الأمنية بين أجهزة اليمن والسعودية التي تحتم ـ في هذه الحالة ـ إبلاغ السلطات اليمنية بتلك المعلومات على الأقل ـ بغض النظر عن الاتفاقيات ـ حتى لا تنفجر الطرود في أي لحظة قبل الكشف عنها في دبي ولندن. The Saudi security authorities had informed the Washington information included the numbers of bills of shipping parcels sent from Yemen and was on its way to the United States, which contributed to the control packages Bmtari Dubai and London, and at the same time surprised the security authorities of Yemen, which I learned the news from the U.S. side despite the security agreements between the Mobile Yemen and Saudi Arabia, which in this case had to inform the Yemeni authorities with that information at least regardless of conventions so as not to explode parcels at any time prior to disclosure in Dubai and London.
وقد خلقت طريقة الكشف عن الطرود حالة من الاستياء والانزعاج لدى صنعاء، غير أنها طرحت سؤالاً هاماً حول أسباب تدهور العلاقة وانعدام الثقة بين أجهزتي الأمن لنظامين حليفين منذ عقود. Have created a detection method for the case of parcels of discontent and discomfort in Sana’a, but it raised an important question about the reasons for the deterioration of the relationship and lack of trust between the security of my machines two allies for decades.
تعزو مصادر سياسية تدهور الثقة تلك ـ لا سيما لدى الجانب السعودي ـ إلى ملفي “القاعدة” و”صعدة” اللذين يمسان بشكل مباشرة أمن المملكة العربية السعودية، حيث ترى الأخيرة في طريقة تعامل صنعاء مع هذين الملفين عدم شفافية، فضلاً عن عدم الجدية والدقة في التنسيق حولهما. Attributes the deterioration of the political sources of that confidence is not particular to the Saudi side to my “rule” and “Saada”, which is directly Emsan security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where you see the recent handling of Sana’a with these two cases the lack of transparency, as well as lack of seriousness and accuracy in Coordination around them.
على صعيد الملف الأول شكلت التهديدات القادمة من أعضاء القاعدة مصدر قلق كبير للنظام السعودي لا سيما بعد محاولة اغتيال الأمير محمد بن نايف مساعد وزير الداخلية للشؤون الأمنية من قبل احد أعضاء القاعدة قدم من اليمن، وهو عبدالله حسن عسيري، شقيق إبراهيم عسيري المشتبه بأنه المسئول عن إرسال الطردين الملغومين، وكلاهما سعوديين الجنسية، لكنهما يتواجدان في اليمن على الأرجح. At the level of the first file formed the threats coming from Al Qaeda members is a major concern of the Saudi regime, especially after the assassination attempt on Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, assistant minister of interior for security affairs by one of al Qaeda members came from Yemen, which Abdullah Hassan Asiri, the brother of Ibrahim al-Asiri suspected of being responsible for Send Trdin Almlgomin, both of Saudi nationality, but they exist in Yemen, most likely.
وكان إعلان صنعاء قبل أسبوعين عن اعتقال شخص يدعى صالح الريمي، بتهمة تمويل تنظيم القاعدة، في مطار صنعاء خلال قدومه من السعودية، مفاجأة للسلطات السعودية التي قالت إنها لم تتلق أي معلومات من اليمن تفيد بعلاقة الريمي بتمويل القاعدة رغم إقامته في السعودية بصفة دائمة، الأمر الذي ساهم في خلق انطباع لدى الرياض بأن صنعاء غير متعاونة معها في مجال مكافحة الإرهاب، وهو ما ألمحت له بعض الصحف السعودية التي قالت انه و”نتيجة لعدم حصول الرياض على معلومات حول تورطه في الأنشطة الإرهابية لم تلق القبض عليه”. The Sanaa Declaration, two weeks before the arrest of a person named Saleh al-Rimi, on charges of financing al-Qaeda, at the airport in Sana’a during coming from Saudi Arabia, a surprise to the Saudi authorities, who said she had not received any information from Yemen indicate relationship Rimi funding al Qaeda, although his stay in Saudi Arabia on a permanent basis, it who helped create the impression that the Riyadh Sanaa is cooperating in the fight against terrorism, which alluded to some Saudi newspapers, which said that he and “due to the lack of access to information about Riyadh of involvement in terrorist activities did not arrest him.”
وقد يبدو في إخفاء الأجهزة الأمنية السعودية لمعلومات الطرود عن نظيرتها اليمنية رداً عاجلاً على عدم إبلاغ أجهزة اليمن نظيرتها السعودية بأي معلومات حول صالح الريمي المتهم بتمويل القاعدة والذي اعتقل في مطار صنعاء قادماً من السعودية. It may seem to hide the Saudi security services for information packages for the Yemeni counterpart urgent response to non-reporting hardware counterpart Yemen Arabia with any information about Saleh al-Rimi, accused of financing al-Qaeda and who was arrested in Sana’a Airport from Saudi Arabia.
أما في ملف حرب صعدة فقد كانت الثقة والتعاون بين نظامي البلدين في أوجهما لدى بداية الحرب لاسيما بعد دخول القوات السعودية على خط المواجهة مع الحوثيين، لكن تلك الحرب انتهت في ظل شك وتوتر في العلاقة خاصة بعد وقف المواجهات بين الجيش السعودي والحوثيين. The file in the Sa’ada war was trust and cooperation between the two regimes in the respective heydays at the beginning of the war, especially after the Saudi forces on the front line with the Houthis, but that war ended in the light of doubt and tension in the relationship, especially after the cessation of hostilities between the Saudi army and Houthis.
وكان من بين التحليلات الأكثر شيوعاً لأسباب إيقاف تلك المواجهات هو وصول الطرف السعودي إلى قناعة بعدم جدية الجانب اليمني في حسم الحرب، في ظل معلومات وصلت للسعوديين عن تسريب أسلحة للحوثيين بغض النظر ما إذا كان مصدر تلك الأسلحة هم تجار السلاح أو أطراف أخرى. One of the analysis the most common reasons to stop these confrontations is the arrival of the Saudi Arabian side to the conviction not serious Yemeni side in the resolution of the war, in light of information came to the Saudis for the diversion of weapons of Alhouthein regardless of whether the source of those weapons are arms dealers or other parties.
وعزز من قناعة السعودية تلك اكتشافها ورود معلومات غير دقيقة أثناء التنسيق بينهما خلال حرب صعدة، إذ وصل الجانب السعودي إحداثيات (مواقع أماكن) من قبل الجانب اليمني باعتبارها أماكن لقيادات حوثية يفترض استهدافها، وبعد تحري تبين أنها أماكن لقيادات عسكرية في الجيش اليمني من بينها اللواء علي محسن الأحمر قائد الفرقة الأولى مدرع، وهو أمر صعق له السعوديون. And strengthened the conviction of Saudi Arabia that discovered and received inaccurate information during the coordination between them during the war in Sa’ada, as it reached the Saudi side, the coordinates (sites places) by the Yemeni side as places for leaders Hotheip supposed to target, and after investigation found to be places for military leaders in the Yemeni army, including General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar commander of the First Armored Division, which has shocked the Saudis.
لقد بات من الواضح اهتزاز الثقة ليس فقط بين أجهزة الأمن اليمنية بنظيرتها السعودية، بل بأجهزة أمن دول أخرى خليجية ودولية. It has become apparent distrust not only between Yemeni security counterpart Arabia, security devices, but other GCC countries and international organizations.
والمؤكد أن على السلطات اليمنية بذل جهود كبيرة لإعادة تلك الثقة وتجنب إثارة الشك حول تعاونها وقدرتها في التعامل مع ملفات أمنية مقلقة للوضع داخلياً وإقليمياً ودولياً. Certainly, the Yemeni authorities to make great efforts to restore that confidence and to avoid raising suspicion about their cooperation and their ability to deal with the security files of the disturbing situation internally, regionally and internationally.
المؤكد أيضاً أن ترحيب اليمن بالمبادرة السعودية بشأن العراق لا يكفي وليس هو الأسلوب الأمثل لإعادة تلك الثقة المفقودة. Is also true that Yemen welcomed the Saudi initiative on Iraq is not enough and is not the best way to restore that confidence is lost.

Al Qaeda Planned to Attack Saudi Arabia during Saudi – Huthi Conflict – Report 21/10/2010
Awasat: Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat- Documents obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat reveal that Saudi Arabian national, Ahmed Abdel Aziz al-Jasser – who Yemen yesterday offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest – was planning to carry out a terrorist operation on Saudi soil during the conflict that took place between the Saudi military and the Huthi insurgents in late 2009. These documents also reveal that al-Jasser was working with 4 other Saudi nationals whose names are included on the Saudi Arabian list of 85 suspected militants wanted around the world.

According to information obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat from a special source, these 5 men were planning to carry out a terrorist attack against Saudi Arabia in December 2009, possibly carrying out an assassination or attacking the country’s oil facilities.

The documents name the 5 Al Qaeda members as being; Murtada Ali Saeed Mukram [76 on the Saudi list], Naif Mohammed Saeed Al-Kodari Al-Qahtani [81], Abdullah Farraj Mohammed Hamoud Al-Juweir [46], and Waleed Ali Mishafi Al-Mishafi Assiri [83], in addition to Ahmed Abdel Aziz al-Jasser, who is not included on the Saudi list of 85.

Yemen announced the arrest of Abdullah Farraj Mohammed Hamoud Al-Juweir several months ago. It seems that the Yemeni security authorities have benefited from information provided by al-Juweir in his confession, which has led to the issuance of an arrest warrant against al-Jasser for his part in the terror plot to target Saudi Arabia.

Naif Mohammed Saeed Al-Kodari Al-Qahtani has been described as a liaison to the Al Qaeda leadership. He was previously a member of a terrorist cell whose objectives included assassinations and the targeting of oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. Al-Qahtani is known to have received self-defence training, and has also been described as an Al Qaeda media representative.

Information on al-Qahtani also reveals that he infiltrated Yemen and has received training in light and heavy arms and has ties to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula members Ammar al-Waili, and Hamza al-Qaiti. Al-Qaiti, who was reportedly Al Qaeda’s number two in Yemen, was killed in August 2008 by Yemeni security forces during a counter-terrorism raid in Tarim.

Al-Qahtani is wanted of financing a terrorist operation that targeted Spanish tourists in July 2007 in the central province of Marib, killing eight, as well as other terrorist operations targeting oil facilities and foreign interests in Yemen.

Waleed Ali Mishafi Al-Mishafi Assiri is wanted for adding and abetting members of Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, and belonging to an Al Qaeda cell whose objectives included assassinations and the targeting of Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities. He has been described as this terrorist cell’s religious leader. Assiri has also reportedly been trained in self-defence, and light and heavy arms, and his known associates also include Ammar al-Waili and Hamza al-Qaiti.

The available information about Abdullah Farraj Mohammed Hamoud Al-Juweir, the fourth member of this terrorist plot to target Saudi Arabia, reveals that he joined Al Qaeda in Iraq and took part in operations there. He reportedly has connected to Al Qaeda members in Yemen and abroad, and he is wanted for planning to carry out terrorist attacks against Saudi Arabia. Al-Juweir travelled to Yemen from Iraq utilizing a false passport in order to plan and prepare for a terrorist operation in Saudi Arabia.

As for the final member of this plot, Murtada Ali Saeed Mukram, he is reported a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who joined Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula following his release. Mukram is wanted by Riyadh for violating the terms of his parole and joining a terrorist organization, namely Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula which is under the leadership of Nasser al-Wahaishy.

Guardian A senior leader of the al-Qaida cell which attempted to assassinate the British ambassador to Sanaa and blow up a US passenger jet last Christmas has been killed in Saudi Arabia, according to a Yemeni source close to the group.

Nayif Mohammed Saeed al-Qahtani, described as the link man between the Saudi and Yemeni branches of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), was killed in a shoot-out last month with Saudi security forces, according to a Yemeni journalist, AbdulElah Shaea.

The time and place of Qahtani’s death are not yet known, but a member of al-Qaida’s leadership in Yemen has confirmed that he was killed and said the group would officially announce the loss in the coming week.

If confirmed, the death of Qahtani, a 24-year-old Saudi, would be the most serious strike against AQAP since President Obama pledged to defeat the group in the wake of the failed airline bombing over Detroit by a Nigerian student trained by al-Qaida in Yemen.

On Tuesday the US state department issued financial sanctions and a travel ban against Qahtani and AQAP military commander Qasim al-Raimi.

Since an offensive against the group began in December Yemeni officials have several times retracted statements on the deaths of senior AQAP members, including Raimi and AQAP leaders Nasser Wahayshi and Saeed Shihri, a former Guantanamo detainee.

Shaea said Qahtani had been instrumental in establishing al-Qaida cells and training camps in Saudi and Yemen and was believed to have plotted last August’s attempted assassination of Saudi counter-terrorism chief Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who narrowly escaped death after a suicide bomber detonated explosives inside the prince’s home.

“Qahtani was one of AQAP’s most important leaders in Saudi,” said Shaea, who met AQAP’s leadership in Yemen, including Qahtani, soon after the group’s formation in January last year.

“AQAP have lost an important element who will take time to replace. But this also shows how few details the Americans have on AQAP: they sanction one of its leaders after he had been killed.”

Last week AQAP claimed responsibility for April’s attempted assassination of the British ambassador to Sanaa. In February last year, Saudi authorities listed Qahtani among 85 most wanted terrorism suspects for plotting attacks on oil facilities in Saudi and Yemen and for funding attacks against foreigners.

Al Qatani was also implicated in the 2007 attack in Marib that killed several tourists.

Saudi Gazette Pakistani built bomb to kill Prince, says Yemeni official
By Abdullah Al-Oraifij
ABYAN, Yemen – Dramatic new claims have been made that a Pakistani explosives expert was responsible for manufacturing the bomb that was used by a suicide bomber in a failed attempt to assassinate Prince Muhammad Bin Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Assistant Interior Minister for Security Affairs at his palace in Jeddah last August.
Talking to Okaz, Ahmad Al-Maseeri, Governor of Abyan in Yemen, said that the man who made the explosive capsule, used by Abdullah Hasan Al-Asiri in his attempt to kill the Prince, was a Pakistani.
The Pakistani expert was killed sometime last year, after being blown up by his own explosive device, said Al-Maseeri.
Al-Maseeri claimed that the man had trained many members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on ways to build and detonate explosive devices. “The Pakistani expert was highly skilled in making explosive devices and had been teaching and training some individuals in Al-Qaeda on how to make and use explosives.”
Al-Maseeri said that Yemeni security forces had found Al-Qaeda hideouts which contained documents on ways to make and use explosive devices. He said Yemeni forces had found explosives and explosive belts similar to the substances found in the explosive capsule used by Al-Asiri in his attempt to kill Prince Muhammad. Death of the expert
Al-Maseeri also claimed that the Pakistani had died sometime last year. He said it was before an air raid carried out by the Yemeni Air Force, which targeted a training camp of Al-Qaeda in the Al-Ma’jalah area on Dec. 17, 2009, in which 24 men including two Saudis were killed.
He said Yemeni forces believe that the Pakistani expert was killed by an explosive charge he was making. It is also believed that Al-Qaeda had hidden the news of his death.
He said it was uncertain at this stage whether the Pakistani expert was killed in a house that exploded in the south of Saada which resulted in the death of three wanted Saudis – Muhammad Al-Rashed, Fahd Al-Jittaili and Sultan Al-Qahtani, who were reported dead on Sep. 14, 2009.
However, it was certain that the three of them were implicated in the failed assassination attempt against Prince Muhammad.

Poisons expert
Al-Maseeri also claimed that another Pakistani, also a supporter of Al-Qaeda, had been involved in assassination operations using poisonous gases and other lethal substances.
He said Al-Qaeda was relying on these two Pakistani experts, to prepare and train elements from Al-Qaeda on how to carry out operations using explosives and poisonous substances.
He said Al-Qaeda started developing smaller explosive devices, instead of using other methods like rigged vehicles. This was to enable them to cross checkpoints relatively unnoticed. They were badly in need of experts to help them build bombs that could not be detected easily.
Al-Maseeri added that he did not have any documented information about the training of the Nigerian Omar Al-Farouk Abdul Muttalib, at the Al-Qaeda camp in Abyan, who tried to blow up an American passenger plane in December last year. However, he claimed that Al-Qaeda had been planning to carry out retaliatory attacks after suffering setbacks in Yemen.
The death of the Pakistani explosives expert is a reminder of another explosives expert, Medhat Mursi Al-Sayyed, also known as Abu Khabab Al-Misri, who was captured in an American raid on a Pakistani border tribal area in January 2006. There had been a $5 million award for his arrest.
Sources said that Al-Asiri, the man who tried to assassinate Prince Muhammad, had received training for months at an Al-Qaeda camp in Yemen on explosives and poisonous substances, along with other Saudis and other nationals from the Arabian Peninsula. This was confirmed by the Saudi Ministry of Interior when it published the name of Al-Asiri on its list of 85 wanted militants last February.
The ministry’s statement indicated that Al-Asiri was trained in Yemen to use various lethal weapons and poisonous and explosive substances. He had also joined a terrorist cell tasked with assassinations and targeting oil installations.

Al-Qaeda Saudis
The Governor of Abyan said there were 18 Saudis among more than 100 Al-Qaeda members included in the Saudi and Yemeni list of wanted terrorists. These men were hiding in mountainous areas in the triangle of Shabwa, Marib and Abyan.
He said these men were constantly on the move to avoid being caught. He pointed out that the presence of the security forces had forced them to stay in the mountainous areas.

Medicines and financing
Al-Maseeri said a number of Al-Qaeda elements were seen recently fetching medicine and other medical equipment for their injured colleagues, according to information provided by pharmacists.
The governor admitted that Al-Qaeda had been able to get aid with the help of non-Yemenis in the organization. The aid was brought in four months ago, it had been determined by their intelligence.

Internationally wanted
The governor emphasized that the Yemeni authorities were determined to root out all Al-Qaeda elements from their territory. The Yemeni Air Force was constantly watching suspicious locations.
He said the Abyan tribes have supported efforts of the security forces and have rejected the presence of the terrorists, labeling them as “evil”.
He said many of the Al-Qaeda men were wanted by both regional and international authorities.

Burial of its members
Al-Maseeri said that although Al-Qaeda bury their people immediately when they die, the security forces had recognized two Saudis killed in the strikes at Al-Maja’la where the Yemeni Abu Saleh Al-Kazami was killed on Dec. 17, 2009.
He also confirmed the killing of the military field commander of the organization, Qassim Al-Rimi, in the Al-Ajachir operation located between Saada and Jouf. – Okaz/SG

MSNBC: U.S. agencies are looking into whether al-Qaida extremists in Yemen directed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and provided him with the explosives used in the failed bombing of Northwest Flight 253, senior administration officials told NBC News on Saturday.

They are also examining a possible link to an attempted assassination of a Saudi government official last August that used the same explosive, PETN, or pentaerythritol tetranitrate. In both incidents, the explosive device was in or attached to the suspect’s underwear.

The New York Times quoted unidentified officials as saying Abdulmutallab had obtained the explosive materials from a bomb expert in Yemen associated with al-Qaida.

Abdulmutallab had visited Yemen in the past few months, say officials. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is a Yemen-based offshoot of al-Qaida.

Abdulmutallab’s increasingly radical leanings and anti-western rhetoric caused his family to alert the U.S. Embassy in the Nigerian capital of Abuja of their concerns.

He was added to a terrorism watch list in November, say officials, but not to the no-fly list. The larger watch list — the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, or TIDE — contains more than 500,000 names, while the no-fly list has some 4,000 names.

Military action
Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has been increasingly active in the past year. It is headquartered in Hadramout, the vast desert region shared with Saudi Arabia, but operates in other parts of the peninsula as well. U.S. and Yemeni forces have stepped up military activities in the region in recent weeks.

A Yemeni official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said Saturday that the U.S. has yet to contact his government officially. “We have yet to receive official information on the incident. If and when the would-be bomber’s alleged link to Yemen is officially identified, authorities will take immediate action.”

Of particular interest to U.S. officials, beyond Abdulmutallab’s travels to Yemen, is a thwarted attack on the head of Saudi Arabia’s counterterrorism effort and an October article on the use of small amounts of explosives, authored by the Yemen al-Qaida group’s leader.

In the former incident, a suicide bomber hid PETN in his underwear, detonating it when greeting Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, head of Saudi counterterrorism, last Aug. 28.

The man, who had claimed he was turning himself in, died in the attack. Bin Nayef, a U.S. ally, suffered burns to his hands. Cultural taboos prevented a search in that part of the terrorist’s body. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the attack.

Officials told WNBC that the explosives in the Christmas Day attack also were attached to Abdulmutallab’s underwear.

‘War is a Trick’
That was followed by an article published two months later in Sada al-Malahim, the group’s online magazine. In the article, “War is a Trick,” the group’s leader, Abu Basir al-Wuhayshi, advised would-be al-Qaida members to use small amounts of explosives to kill “apostates” and Western nationals, including on passenger aircraft and in airports.

According to a translation proved by NBC counterterrorism analyst Evan Kohlmann, al-Wuhayshi wrote: “You do not need to sacrifice huge efforts, or large amounts of money, to make 10 grams of explosives, or more or less … make it [the material] in the shape of a grenade to throw, or [an explosive] to time, or ignite it from a distance, or a martyrdom belt … and bomb with it any tyrant, or intelligence forces den, or a prince, or a minister, or a crusader wherever you find them, and also in airports in the western crusade countries that participated in the war against Muslims; or on their planes, or in their residential complexes or their subways.”

Al-Wuhayshi pointed to the attempted assassination of bin Nayef as an example of how to carry out such attacks.

U.S. and Yemeni forces have carried out two joint attacks on al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula within the past week, killing more than 60 suspects and larger numbers of civilians. Among those targeted in the second attack, only three days ago, was al-Wuhayshi.