Armies of Liberation

The Yemenis are in the lead on the investigation. I know its the FBI ( and TSA ) and all, but I hope they remember about the South Korean investigators who were targeted by a suicide bomber after they arrived in Yemen to investigate the murder of the South Korean tourists in March 2009. Al Qaeda obtained the route of the convoy from subverted members of the security forces.

Al Masdar Online: U.S. team arrives Yemen to participate in the probe parcel bomb

Roads to Iraq picks up a report from Barakish:

Last infor­ma­tion revealed that sui­cide bomber (you can see his decap­i­tate head here), is stepped out a black car with tinted car-windows five min­utes before he com­mit­ted the sui­cide attempt (I don’t think Al-Qaeda mem­bers are dri­ving in the cities with tinted car-windows, P.S. in Yemen and most Arab coun­tries, you need a per­mis­sion to drive such cars).

There are some inter­est­ing analy­sis says that this is an attempt planned by the Yemeni gov­ern­ment to force the coun­tries who promised to donate for the devel­op­ment of Yemen (and broke their promises).

One deduction we can make about the plot against the UK ambassador is that it was hatched by the same planner who previously attacked South Korean investigators in March 2009, also by bouncing an explosives laden youth off of a moving car. In that attack as well, no one was killed but the two suicide bombers.

The other relevant fact of the earlier attack is that al Qaeda admitted their operatives received inside information from the security forces. Even the Yemeni Parliament said the attack was proof the security forces were compromised. If we assume the same planner, we can then reasonably assume the same connections into the Yemeni intelligence and security forces still exist. The yet unconfirmed report that the youth arrived in a black car five minutes before the ambassador passed may indicate that the attacker knew the route and was laying in wait, as in the earlier instance. In the current case, the question remains, did Saleh call in a favor or did al Qaeda?

They used a booby trapped picture frame and cassette player according to the vid.

According to al Shayea, they were not trained in Somalia- they send fighters to Somalia and Afghanistan and Iraq, but Hamas rejected Yemeni volunteers who came to Gaza.

Yemen: Al-Qaeda reveals new information on attacks against Koreans from the Yemen Post

The recent suicide attacks against South Koreans tourists in Yemen, four of whom were reported killed last March, have been detailed by al-Qaeda in a new video statement released on June 27 entitled “I Have Won I Swear to Kaaba’s God.”

The videotape was released through the jihadi media outlet Al-Malahim (al-faloja.info, June 28), reporting that the two separate attacks against South Korean official investigators and tourists in March were premeditated. An al-Qaeda’s approach which some analysts say it seems destined to damage the government’s reputation. (Read on …)

AQAP are insisting robustly that they knew the route of the Korean investigators though intensive surveillance. Discounting of course the logical and widespread assumption that the terrorists were tipped off, ie- elements in the Yemeni security knew in advance of the plot and provided the route of the motorcade. t gets flakier- the youth wandered around Sana’a for months looking to hook up with Wahishi.

Also the other thing to note, tangentially, is the journalist Abdel-Elah Haidar noted in the article as one who interviewed Wahishi previously is now insisting that AQAP would not have carried out the kidnapping of the medical workers in Sa’ada because it is against their principles. (Killing women like the Belgiams tourists in Hadramout is apparently less of an offense than kidnapping them.) I dont think Haidar would be taking such a strong position in his analysis (which was published in News Yemen) without there being something behind it, one way or another. From Al Masdar:

Al Qaeda announces military intelligence security information on the preparation of new processes and the implementation of Hadramout and Sana’a
المصدر أون لاين – محمد العزكي Source Online – Mohammed Aezzki

كشف تنظيم القاعدة عن معلومات أمنية عسكرية جديدة حول منفذي العمليتين الانتحاريتين في حضرموت وصنعاء ضد السياح والمحققين الأمنيين الكوريين في مارس الماضي، مستهدفا سمعة الأجهزة الأمنية اليمنية وإفشال الحكومة اقتصاديا. Detection al-Qaeda military security of the information on the perpetrators of a new double suicide bombing in Hadramout and Sana’a against the security of tourists and Korean investigators last March, the reputation of the security target and the failure of the Yemeni government economically. (Read on …)

The South Koreans are looking to sell, if I recall correctly.

nasdaq

SANAA, Yeman (AFP)–Unknown attackers blew up an oil pipeline in southeast Yemen operated by a South Korean firm, causing a leak, police and industry officials said Thursday.

The attack took place Wednesday night in a region of Shabwa province that produces 10,000 barrels of oil a day.

Local police chief Saïd Saleh al-Souleimany told reporters that the assailants planted an explosive device under the pipeline and detonated it from a distance.

Technicians were sent to repair the damage, which he described as not serious, after the unclaimed attack.

YO

Security authorities in Hodeidah province announced the arrest of an al-Qaeda affiliate in the west of Yemen last Sunday. The information center of the Ministry of the Interior said that the arrested terrorist was detained for his involvement in the suicide attack that targeted a South Korean group on the road to Sana’a airport on the 18th of March. The suicide attack resulted in the death of the suicide bomber but no other casualties.

The arrested terrorist was identified as A.M. al-A’ameri. Security authorities said al-A’ameri had links to the suicide bomber, Khalid al-Dhayani, and also had links to al-Qaeda high profile member Qasim al-Raimi, who is classified as one of the most dangerous terrorists affiliated to al-Qaeda.

The authorities added that al-A’ameri had been tracked down in a number of Yemeni provinces until security authorities were finally able to capture him in Hodiedah and hand him over to the concerned bodies in the capital Sana’a to refer him to justice.

Security authorities said on Sunday that a terrorist affiliated to al-Qaeda was killed in a blast caused by an explosive device he was preparing to use for a terrorist operation in al-Wadhea’ district of Abyan province in the south of Yemen.

According to the 26 September website, security authorities in Abyan province said that the terrorist’s name was Anwar Mohammed al-Tughaishi, which was included on the wanted list of known terrorists, and that he was tracked down by the security bodies charged with the capture of those affiliated with the al-Qaeda organization, and those suspected of planning and carrying out terrorist operations.

By the end of April, security authorities said that they captured two suspected al-Qaeda members in Aden. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the two captured were A.Y.D. and M.H.S and that they were captured in the Dar Sa’ad district of Aden, adding that the investigative authorities have begun investigations of the two suspects in preparation to present them to justice.

A few days following the attacks that targeted South Korean tourists in Hadramout province and the South Korean group in Sana’a, security bodies had announced the capture of 16 al-Qaeda suspects, ten of whom were captured in Shabwa province in the southeast of Yemen. The ten are believed to be members of the Qasim al-Raimi cell. The other six were members of another suicide terrorist cell that planned 12 terrorist attacks targeting oil facilities, tourist attractions, and other foreign and local interests.

Al-Qaeda had previously threatened to target security personnel in Yemen and promised to multiply suicide operations in the country. However, the Yemeni Ministry of Interior has responded to the al-Qaeda threats by saying that they were only an attempt to attain media coverage. Interior Ministry leadership described the Al-Qaeda threat to target security officials as also solely to gain attention, adding that the Interior Ministry is not paying much attention to threats such as these.

The information center of the Interior Ministry also published a statement in which it affirmed that the threat released by Al-Qaeda was only a desperate attempt to dissuade security services from pursuing Al-Qaeda elements.

Yemeni security and military forces launched an offensive which lasted several days and resulted in the capture of over 59 Jihadists in Abyan province in the south of Yemen last April. The security bodies said that they concluded investigations with 17 of the arrested Jihadists and would refer them to justice on charges of terrorism, sabotage, hijacking, looting, and attacks on security and governmental facilities. They also revealed that the investigations proved that they were affiliated with terrorist organizations.

In another statement, they say Jamaat al Jihad is the remnants of al Nabi’s AAIA. Another references al Hitat and Afghan Arabs. Shabwa press

he governor of Abyan Ahmed Almisri The preliminary investigation conducted by the security services with those arrested in the city of Ja’ar revealed links to al-Qaida and some of them involved in terrorist acts. (Read on …)

Dont Click the Link! GAhhhh, its a picture of a foot and only a foot remains.

So the question is of course is this Khaled al Dhayani a relative of Hamza al Dhayani, the purported driving instructor for the 2007 Marib tourists’ murderer and later the main suspect in the Embassy attack but who said in an interview that the security forces orchestrate some attacks themselves.

Funny how this DNA test took a few weeks when sometimes in Yemen the results come back in hours.

al Motamar: Yemen identifies identity of Sana’a Airport suicidal operation perpetrator
Wednesday, 08-April-2009
Almotamar.net – Yemen Interior Ministry announced Wednesday it has identified identity of the perpetrator of the suicidal terrorist operation committed on the road leading to Sana’a Airport on 18 last March. The Ministry depended on results of DNA examinations.

Official source at the Interior Ministry has said,” Security authorities identified the implementer of the terrorist suicidal operation on the road leading to Sana’a Airport on 18 last March. “ (Read on …)