Armies of Liberation

News? Is this news? AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Osama bin Laden, deeply isolated and likely near the rugged Afghanistan-Pakistan border, has been forced to devote much of his energy to his own security while his Al-Qaeda terror network remains resilient, CIA Director Michael Hayden said Thursday.

“He is putting a lot of energy into his own survival, a lot of energy into his own security. In fact, he appears to be largely isolated from the day-to-day operations of the organization he nominally heads,” Hayden said in a speech, referring to Al-Qaeda.

(Read on …)

I am oddly uninterested in issues five and six of the Echo of Epics magazine and their description of breaching the embassy’s outer perimeter, and before that I was less than fascinated by the forum postings, phone calls, emails, letter bombs, youtube videos, faxes to AFP (heh), and audio recordings among the myriad of prior Yemeni al-Qaeda communications. But this one makes some sense, especially when you factor in the whole thing with al-Qamish, head of the PSO. (But if its from Abu Jindal, and not Abu al-Feida, then maybe its just more yayayayaya.) However I’m off on my own in my view of the configuration of the local, regional and central al-Qaeda network, and there is a substantial compendium of opposing views. There was only one analysis previously, in Newsweek, that advanced the theory that UBL would have had to sign off on the embassy attack, and it was met with some astoundment, but it made sense to me considering the strong historical relationship in Yemen that is missing in Iraq and Thailand and India and so forth. The following is a google translation of the al-Quds al-Arabya article:

Sanaa ‘Arab Jerusalem’ (Al-Quds al-Arybia) from Khalid Al Hammadi: A source close to the leadership of a local organization in Yemen to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, his followers implement the largest military operation against the United States far exceed the 11 September (September), aspire to change In the world politically and economically.

He said of the ‘Arab Jerusalem’ that this process will be large in response to Washington’s rejection of the truce by al Qaeda for Western countries led by the United States, and that ‘this process will be implemented in the near future’ and make the September 11 (September) a thing of the past.

The ‘Implementation of this process a matter of time, and the implementation of regulatory orders have been issued by the organization’s leader, Sheikh Osama bin Laden, the timing of implementation remains subject to the completion of the process well prepared and opportunities’.

The ‘Al-Qaeda is currently the best stages, where he became the most powerful level since its inception in number and equipment and training in many countries around the world and it has become systematic and widespread and not confined to elective’.

He cited an example that al Qaeda was currently governing most areas of Somalia, and that the Taliban control most of the territory of Afghanistan, while many of the tribal chieftains in the provinces of Marib and Jawf, Saada and Shabwa in Yemen Bayaoa formal leadership of a local organization in their country, they engaged in the organization out of Ideological and not tribal as in the past.

He pointed out that the al Qaeda-time during the past year pursuit by the security services of Western and Arab training and polarization and horizontal expansion, and the global war on terrorism served the organization unless they serve each other factors, where ‘organization benefited from the mistakes committed by Washington and Arab regimes partners In the war against terrorism to attract all those affected by the global war who were not linked to any organization in advance ‘.

A source who asked not be named for security reasons, a leader of a former al-Qaida and still continues to this day with some of its leadership and Osama bin Laden sent a letter six months ago to all Al-Qaeda cells in the Arab world of refusing to negotiate with the political system, not Feasibility of, the content of ‘Leave it to negotiate with evil regimes’. It was reported that the letter arrived to the leadership of a local organization in Yemen against the backdrop of the Yemeni attempt to open channels of dialogue with al-Qaeda to convince them to cease terrorist operations in Yemen against both Western interests or interests Yemeni-for settlement of their status and their integration into society.

He pointed out that ‘upon the receipt of the letter began the organizational leadership of al Qaeda in Yemen of plotting quality of its operations in Yemen, the first of the latest operations against the U.S. embassy in Sanaa in September (September), after a break of several years’.

He emphasized that the process of planning and directing carried out by the Emir of al-Qaeda in Yemen Nasser Louhichi (Waheshi), one of the most prominent of the 23 escapees from the prison of the Central Agency for Political Security (Intelligence) in Sanaa.

He pointed out that al-Qaeda in Yemen over the past years time to arrange its internal affairs and attracting influential figures in society, particularly those personalities otherwise sharply with the political system, most notably the tribal leaders in the provinces of Marib and Jawf, Saada and Shabwa.

The operations carried out during the past two years against Western interests in Yemen and the government has not implemented al-Qaeda, but al Qaeda in the Peninsula, which now leads the Alqaaiti Hamza, was killed in a confrontation with police a few months ago in the Hadramawt.
He expected to see the Yemeni arena in the coming period of the quality of the base, which Yemeni authorities are trying to mitigate the doubling of its security

The regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh has the tendency to call nearly everyone it arrests “terrorists” (Houthis, journalists, southerners, activists and now pirates) as an offset to its laid back counter terror policies and laws. The following is from the official Yemeni news agency, SABA:

Anti-Terror unit carries out military operation

SANA’A, Nov. 05 (Saba)- Special Forces’ Anti-Terror Unit carried out on Wednesday ” al-Bahr al-Haej” operation or the angry sea operation in the Southern Military Zone.

The operation the anti-terror unit carried out with participation of military and security units, was designed for freeing a ship from the seize of armed group of terrorist pirates via hit- and -run attack against terrorists and freeing the ship and hostages in it.

The forces have carried out the operation successfully and strongly, embodying the great responsibility the military forces carry on shoulders for protecting security and stability across the homeland.

Saudi Gazette

RIYADH – Saudi authorities have planned to try nearly 1,200 new detained terror suspects on charges that they participated in terrorist attacks carried out in the Kingdom over the last five years, sources said Saturday.
Interior Minister Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz said that the ministry is preparing the charges with the help of the Investigation and Prosecution Bureau. The new 1200 suspected militants, rounded up in anti-terror raids across the country in recent years, will be added to the 991 suspects already referred to court for terrorism charges.
The legal proceedings mark a big step in the country’s fight against terrorism as more terror suspects stand trial in the judicial circuits within the General Court in Riyadh.
Among the arrested were 520 terror suspects who were netted earlier this year in different five terror cells as they were planning to bomb the Intelligence Building in Khafji and an oil installation facility in the Eastern Province, a long-time dream of Osama Bin Laden, leader of Al-Qaeda terror network.
The detainees included 208 terror suspects who formed six cells that planned a series of assassinations targeting senior Muslim scholars in the Kingdom topped by Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah Aal Al-Sheikh, Grand Mufti and chairman of the Board of Senior Ulama, and Sheikh Saleh Bin Fowzan Al-Fowzan, member of the Board of Senior Ulama. The security forces also arrested another cell consisting of 18 terror suspects led by a 37-year-old Yemeni. The cell, named Al-Sawareekh (missiles), was planning to target vital installations and sensitive facilities in the Kingdom. The Yemeni cell leader was found to have trained his followers to launch missile attacks at the Farouq camp of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Authorities said that 70 percent of the 991 terror suspects, indicted last week, are Saudis while the remaining 30 percent are of different nationalities, mostly Yemenis.

Right after AQ calls for more maritime actions…

The global shipping community has called upon the world’s naval powers to deploy more warships to patrol the commercially strategic Gulf of Aden to counter rising levels of piracy off the coast of Somalia.

The call comes in the wake of frequent incidents of piracy in the region, the latest being the hijacking of two vessels off the coast of Somalia Thursday.

In a joint statement, leading ship associations and transport unions said the situation is “spiraling completely and irretrievably out of control.”

They have made urgent calls to the United Nations in New York and its maritime body in London seeking the deployment of effective naval forces.

It is said that some shipping firms were already refusing to transit the Gulf of Aden.

The vital sea route in the Arabian Sea between Yemen and Somalia connects the Gulf and Asia to Europe and beyond via the Suez Canal. It is critical to Gulf oil shipments.

Currently, Somali pirates are holding 13 vessels captive, along with more than 200 sailors. Most of the gangs are based in northern Somalia’s Puntland region, where security forces reportedly clashed with pirates on Thursday.

Ya think?

NST

KUALA LUMPUR: Pirates are charging ships using the Gulf of Aden a “toll” to fund their criminal activities, including help Somali insurgents fight their weak interim government.

Maritime industry senior officials are convinced that the toll, by way of ransom, is imposed to sponsor the activities of warlords and international terrorist groups.

(Read on …)

AQY isn’t actually a part of al-Qaeda, there is no new generation, just some confused outliers: UBL bodyguard

Gulf news

Sana’a: Al Qaida activists in Yemen do not follow Osama Bin Laden, Nasser Al Bahri, a former bodyguard of Bin Laden, told Gulf News.

The 33-year old Al Bahri, also known as Abu Jandal, joined Al Qaida in 1996 and spent four years in Afghan-istan. He had orders to kill Bin Laden if his boss was on the brink of being captured.

Al Bahri was arrested at Sana’a airport on his way back to Afghanistan, on suspicion of being involved in the suicide bombing of the American destroyer USS Cole in September 2000.

(Read on …)

Saba News

Yemen reviews conditions of Yemeni detainees in Lebanon

[12 September 2008]
BEIRUT, Sep. 12 (Saba)- A diplomatic source said on Friday that Yemen’s ambassador to Lebanon Faysal Ameen Abu Ras had talked with the Lebanese Prosecutor General Saeed Mirza the Lebanon’s General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza over conditions of Yemeni detainees in Lebanese prisons.

The source was quoted by the independent al-tagheer.net as saying that three Yemeni detainees were accused by Lebanese authorities of belonging to the Fatah al-Islam group and targeting western interests in Lebanon.

“The ambassador Abu Ras discussed with Mirza the possibility of prosecuting the Yemeni detainees in Yemen”, added the source.

“Those Yemeni detainees are Nasser al-Shayba and Salim Abdul-Karim accused of belonging to the Fatah al-Islam and Muammar al-Awami who accused of targeting western interests in Lebanon”.

Abu Ras asked the Lebanese authorities to provide a list of Yemeni wanted, arrested and killed during the events took place in the Nahr el Bared camp in Lebanon as well as the possibility of investigating with the detainees by a Yemeni investigation team.

According to the source of the Yemeni embassy in the Lebanese capital Beirut, Prosecutor General Mirza accepted to deal with Yemen’s requests officially.

The YSB?

SAN’A, Yemen: A Yemeni security official says that recently detained members of al-Qaida have confessed to plans to attack oil facilities in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

The official says authorities “obtained during interrogation” confessions from 15 militants arrested after a shootout earlier this week in the town of Tarim in Hadramawt province.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

He says Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz was dispatched to Yemen after learning about the confessions. Riyadh did not comment on Nayef’s visit.

The following article says the YSB group was responsible for pretty much all the recent attacks attacks, including the three mortar attacks in Sana’a, the three suicide bombings and the attacks on the Belguin tourists. And makes the point that some predict, “The international community, mainly the US, will approve of government plans to prioritise security rather than democracy.” (furthering the ultimate Talibanization of Yemen)

SANA’A // The killing this week by Yemeni security forces of a key al Qa’eda mastermind will initially sow confusion among the group, but is likely to provoke a violent backlash, an analyst said.

“This operation is a big blow to al Qa’eda and will, of course, invite an angry response from al Qa’eda to retaliate. It is clear now the confrontation between the government and al Qa’eda is open,” said Saeed Thabet, a political analyst who follows Islamist movements.

Yemeni authorities announced on Aug 12 that Hamza al Quaiti, al Qa’eda in Yemen’s number two, was killed along with five other terror suspects in a shoot-out with police the previous day in Tarim, in south-eastern Hadramaut province.

Another two suspected militants were wounded and arrested by police. Two police officers were killed in the clash.

The ministry of interior has blamed Quaiti for masterminding several terror attacks in Yemen in recent months, including four car bomb attacks and an attack on Belgian tourists in Hadramaut on Jan 18 that killed two Belgian women and two Yemeni drivers. The ministry has also accused Quaiti of being behind the US Embassy bombing in March. The attack killed a security guard and wounded 13 students at a nearby school.

(Read on …)

Escaped al Qaeda operative Hamza al Quayti was killed in a shootout along with four other al-Qaeda operatives as well as two policemen. President Saleh said the group was planning attacks in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. A published report indicated elements within Yemeni security forces directed al Qauyti in March to launch a failed mortar attack on the US embassy and cleared the roads for his escape after the attack. The coordinates were off deliberately, the report says. The official regime meme is the current raid is proof Yemen is cooperating in the WOT, and deserves “greater international support and understanding” The group is supposedly responsible for all three car bombings (election, tourists, police station).

Daily Times: Yemen’s leading Al Qaeda fugitive killed in shootout

SANAA: Yemen said on Tuesday that a prominent fugitive member of the local branch of Al Qaeda was killed in a shootout when police stormed a house in the eastern province of Hadramaut.

Hamza al-Quayti, one of 23 Al Qaeda militants who broke out of jail in February 2006, was killed along with four other fighters in Monday’s clash in the town of Tarim, the defence ministry website September 26 said. Two policemen were killed and three others wounded, while two militants were wounded and captured, it added. The ministry said the militants who were hiding in a house stormed by security forces had formed a cell which “planned to execute terror attacks and bombings in Yemen and abroad”. It said police found explosives and documents including Arab passports, including two belonging to Saudis. It claimed the cell was behind attacks including a suicide car bombing that killed eight Spanish tourists and two Yemeni guides at a historic site in Marib, east of Sanaa, in July 2007 (07/02.07).

(Read on …)

TFP

Al-Qaeda confirms commander’s loss

PESHAWAR (PAN): The al-Qaeda network, led by elusive Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, confirmed on Friday the death of a leading commander in an American airstrike in southeastern Afghanistan. Ahmed Suleman, a spokesman for the dreaded organisation, said in a statement emailed to Pajhwok Afghan News the prominent Arab commander perished in the American raid in the volatile Paktika province. Several companions of Abu Abdallah al-Shami - who led Arab, Pakistani, Uzbek and Chechen fighters in the troubled region where violence has escalated in recent months - were also eliminated in the attack. Shami’s death came three years after his escape from the Bagram Airbase along with three other hardened militants on July 12, 2005. One of the escapees, Saudi citizen Abu Naser al-Qahtani, was captured a year later while Omar al-Farooq died in a British airstrike earlier. Still at large is Abu Yahya al-Libi, who has been active in recent years, releasing videotaped speeches in praise of al-Qaeda leaders. Calling for jihad against the foreign forces in Afghanistan, the high-profile militant leader often urges youths to swell al-Qaeda ranks. In the statement, al-Qaeda chief in Afghanistan Abu Yazid Muhammad Mustafa resolved to seek revenge on US, Afghan and other foreign forces for the killing Shami and other ‘mujahideen.’ He called the commander’s death a huge loss. “Al Qaeda announces the martyrdom of one of the heroes and field leaders who performed well in facing the modern crusade, our brother Abu Abdallah al-Shami,” the statement said. “God had destined him to become a martyr,’’ the statement added. Al-Yazid asked the slain commander’s family to exercise patience in this hour of grief. “Following his release, Shami resumed jihad with even stronger zeal,” he added. On July 13, Ahmad Suleman said commander Abu al-Hassan al-Saeedi was killed in a clash with Afghan and American forces. Saeedi (48), hailing from Yemen, was chief of al-Qaeda training camps in Paktia and Khost during the jihad against the Soviet forces. Meanwhile, three civilians were killed and another four wounded in a predawn roadside bombing in the southeastern Khost province, a top official said on Friday. In the lawless Helmand province, five people including three Taliban insurgents, a policeman and a resident perished in a gunbattle Thursday evening. The clash erupted in the rebel-infested Nad Ali district. Khost Governor Arsala Jamal told Pajhwok Afghan News the blast happened at 2.00am on the outskirts of the provincial capital. The fatalities included a woman, a child and a driver, said Jamal, who blamed the guerrillas for the explosion. Four people with shrapnel injuries were brought to the Khost Civil Hospital, Dr. Abdul Majeed Mangal confirmed. The injured were in a stable condition, the hospital director added. The Helmand police chief said the Nad Ali battle was triggered by a Taliban attack on a police checkpoint. Also killed in the shootout was a civilian.

From the Times Online, via Weasel Zippers:

Dr Williams said: “The Anbar Awakening (in Iraq) really broke the hearts of a lot of al-Qaeda followers who saw the jihad in Iraq in black-and-white terms. Sunni Arab al-Qaeda were pushed out by fellow Sunni Arabs.

“Iraq is seen as a defeat. The image of Afghanistan is seen as a more pristine jihad.”

The Times has learnt from several insurgency sources that Abu Yusuf Saleh al-Yemeni, an emissary for al-Qaeda, met the leadership of Hizb-e-Islami, the Afghan insurgent group, in Nuristan province on the eastern border in autumn 2007. The two sides agreed to work together. Al-Yemeni now leads a band of al-Qaeda fighters alongside Hizb-e-Islami fighters, as well as Taleban and Pakistani militants from bases in Nuristan.

Of course, performing “jihad” (a/k/a/ murder) in Iraq is legal in Yemen. The Yemeni judical system doesn’t even take into account if the returning “jihaddists” killed innocent Iraqi civilians or Iraqi police. So murder abroad carries no legal sanction in Yemen no matter who gets killed even kids.

I’m not posting the link to the following but it reminds me of the article by the Iraqi journalist who was on a Yemenia flight to Syria. He wrote there were a over a dozen jihaddists on the flight openly talking about going to fight in Iraq. That was after the National Security took over jursidiction of the airports from the Political Security in November 2006.

Al-Furqan media, the mouthpiece of the ISI has now released a new 41-minute video featuring a number of istishahadah (martyrdom attacks) carried out by foreign mujahideen in Iraq. The video is the third of a series called “Knights of Martyrdom.”

A major part of the video has been dedicated to a spectacular attack that destroyed the Badosh bridge, Northern Mosul, in May 2007. The attack was carried out by a Yemeni mujahideen going by the name Abu Huzeifa. He drove his explosives-packed truck past the security post at the entrance of the bridge, and detonated it about 150 meters further. The explosion was massive, causing the bridge to collapse. According to al Qaeda foreign mujahideens’ records released earlier this year by CTC, Abu Huzeifa was an arm-dealer from the city of Taez in Yemen. He arrived in Iraq via Syria, and registered as a martyrdom seeker on entering the country. He was 28 years old when he carried out the attack.

This from the CTC is also interesting. Its information from captured documents about assorted foreign fighters in Iraq. You’ll notice some patterns. I’m surpirsed they published so much personal information. There’s a lot more Yemenis listed at the link, this is just a sample. Its really sad that all these young guys get brainwashed into thinking their greatest contribution in life and to the world is to kill themselves.

Name: Raffat Abd Allah Al Amoudi
Alias: Abu-Azzam
Address: Yemen- Aden
Telephone:
Birth Date: 1982
Arrival Date: //
Contribution: //
Sake keeping: passport/ Identification/ Watch
Coordinator: Abu Mussab
Where do you know the coordinator from: Through a brother came back from Iraq
How did you arrive to Syria? Airplane
Stages of arrival to Iraq: Egypt, Syria

Document Summary: This document contains personal information of three individuals, one fighter and two suicide bombers. The first was Hamad ‘Abdallah al-Mutayri, also known as Abu-Hajar, a suicide bomber from Saudi. The second was Sami Ahsan al-Jufi, also known as Abu-Asid al-Jufi, a fighter from Yemen. And the third was al-Mutawakkil ‘Ala-Allah Mahdi, also known as Abu-al-Fida’, a suicide bomber from Yemen.
(Page 1 of 1)
Name: Hamad ‘Abdallah al-Mutayri
Alias: Alu Hajar [TC: they misspelled it, instead of Abu-Hajar]
Country: Saudi Arabia
Telephone: House/ 009664545217
Facilitator: —————
Occupation: Suicide bomber
Deposits: Passport
Donations: A watch/ 400 USD
Name: Sami Ahsan al-Jufi
Alias: Abu-Asid al-Jufi
Country: Yemen/ San’a’
Telephone: His brother/ 00967733821512- House/ 00967274750
Facilitator: ‘Abd-al-Hay
Occupation: Fighter
Deposits: Passport/ Identification card
Donations: A watch
Name: al-Mutawakkil ‘Ala-Allah Mahdi
Alias: Abu-al-Fida’
Country: Yemen/ San’a’
Telephone: House/ 009671544144
Facilitator: al-Haram al-Jurbani/ Salim al-Dulaymi
Occupation: Suicide bomber
Deposits: Passport
Donations: 240 USD
[End of Translation]

(Read on …)

CSM

Mir argues that the sudden shift of tactics and the apparent rapid enhancement in the sophistication of the attacks by insurgents point to an external capability. The attack on Benazir Bhutto and the Serena Hotel in Kabul were indicative of better planning and coordination that could not have come from the Taliban alone, he argues.

“They are traditional fighters,” he says. “Not thinkers. Recent attacks have also revealed the involvement of police and this is not the Taliban style at all.”

Recent reports have indicated increased activity of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the bordering regions of Pakistan. Last week saw the death of a top commander of Al Qaeda in Khost Province in southern Afghanistan. Abu al Hassan al Saeedi was reportedly a Yemeni leader who was killed in fighting with American forces, according to the local news agency Pajhwok. Killed alongside him was Umer Haqqani, son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, considered one of the top militant leaders in Afghanistan.

This doesn’t make sense. I dont think the Houthis are connected to Lebanese Hezbollah, and if Saleh wants to end the fighting, all he has to do is implement his end of the peace accord.

CBS News

President Saleh sent a message to the Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of the militant Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, urging him to intervene to put an end to the fighting with the rebel Huthi followers in Saada in northern Yemen, according to a report posted on a Yemeni Internet forum by the Yemeni Shiiter group Ansar al Haq. The group also posted several videos that showed aftermath pictures of an airstrike by Yemeni warplanes on a village in Saada. One video showed what the group said were parachute drops of food and supplies for Yemeni forces stranded in the Meran area.

Arresting people who are printing books? It could be the normal mainstream Zaidi teachings, its unclear.

Sahwa Net – Yemeni security forces could seize on Thursday a cell in Aden relating to Houthi rebels which printed books of the Imamate rule.

A source told 26 September newspaper that the cell includes 8 persons that promoted to Houthi ideologies. On the other hand, confrontations are still underway in Saada governorate between rebels headed by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi and Yemen’s army.

Forgot to pos tthis earlier, I think… “Come to Yemen,” Al-Qaeda in Yemen appeals to “Saudi Brothers”

8 May, 2008

Nicole Stracke
Researcher
Security and Terrorism Department

“Come to Yemen…” This is an appeal by Nayef bin Mohamed Al-Khatany (Abu Humam), a Saudi member of Al-Qaeda who is wanted by Saudi security forces and is believed to be hiding in Yemen. Al-Khatany was recently accused by the Yemen authorities of being the main financier of the two major attacks on Yemen’s oil installations in Marib and Hadramaut carried out by Al-Qaeda in Yemen in September 2006. The ‘call’ appeared in the March edition of Sada al-Malahim, the organization’s magazine that surfaced for the first time on Jihad websites early this year. The magazine published a two-part interview with Al-Khatany. Asked why he, as a Saudi, decided to come to Yemen instead of fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan, Al-Khatany said that Saudi Arabia remains the main battlefield for two reasons: its symbolic value as the home of Islam and its strategic value as the major oil producer and supplier. The Khatany statement admits that the Al-Qaeda branch in Saudi Arabia has lost its battle in the Kingdom as most of its members have been either killed or are in prison. He calls upon the remaining members of the Saudi branch to migrate to Yemen without delay “in order to escape sure arrest by Saudi authorities.” In his statement he invites his “brother mujahideen in the land of the two holy places” (Saudi Arabia) to join him and his colleagues who have already moved to Yemen, asserting that the “liberation” of the land of the two holy places “starts from here.” Al-Khatany calls for united efforts, and urges that the “life and the money of the Saudi mujahideen” be combined with the “land, life and the experiences of the Yemeni brothers.”

(Read on …)

Express India

June 21 A joint operation by the Military Intelligence (MI) and the Bangalore city police culminated in the arrest of six Manipuri extremists of the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) on Thursday. Officials from the MI unit at Southern Command Headquarters, Pune, co-coordinated the operation.

Those arrested are Ibungo Singh alias Chulamba (29), a self-styled lieutenant who had to discharge the duties of an officer, Sergeant Major Laikhu Ram Jiten Singh alias Dada (30) who was the project officer in charge of collecting money and Joney alias Nanao (26), all of them Manipuri nationals who are wanted in many cases of bomb blasts, extortion and other terror activities. The other three arrested are Megan Chander (29), Vikas Pradhan (24) and a foreign national from Yemen, Almer Mohammed (23).

The MI was tracking the extremists for the past one month and after enough evidence against them was gathered, decided to zero in and make the arrests….While Jiten Singh is suspected to have links with the ISI, sources said the foreign national was suspected to have Al Qaeda connections, which are yet to be conclusively proved.

The last time we heard about JI in Yemen was the Ayyoub brothers.

Yemen Observer

The source was quoted as saying that the arrested suspect is a high-profile al-Qaeda militant and has provided important information during interrogations.
An informed source revealed to the Yemen Observer that the arrested person was an Indonesian citizen.
Prior to this event the Yemeni authorities announced the arrest of 11 suspected al-Qaeda militants in the capital Sana’a.
The security apparatuses also detained some persons suspected of protecting and sheltering escaped al-Qaeda fugitives in Marib province
In the last few weeks the security forces have launched many raids against al-Qaeda in Yemen, particularly after al-Qaeda militants carried out several attacks against facilities and residential buildings in the country.

ERIGAVO, Somalia June 8
(Garowe Online) - Police authorities in Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland are questioning two foreigners who were arrested in the region of Sanaag on Saturday, sources said.

The two men – one from Yemen, the other from China – were arrested alongside four Somalis in the port town of Las Korey. The two foreigners were transported to a police station near Erigavo, the provincial capital of Sanaag, Somaliland Defense Minister Abdullahi Ali Ibrahim told reporters.

(Read on …)

Hat tip Eaglespeak, perhaps the most informed maritime themed blogs around.

Memri:

Al-Qaeda Affiliated E-Journal: “The Sea is The Next Strategic Step Towards Controlling The World And Restoring The Islamic Caliphate”

On April 26, 2008, the Islamist website Al-Ikhlas posted an article from Jihad Press, an e-journal reportedly linked to Al-Qaeda, which urges the mujahideen to establish naval terror cells. The article argues that gaining control over the seas and sea passages – especially around the Arabian Peninsula – is a vital step towards renewing the global Islamic caliphate.

It points out that such operations are feasible, because Yemeni groups have already carried out successful attacks against oil tankers, tourist vessels, and commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden; and other jihad fighters have carried out “two successful attacks on Zionist-Crusader targets in the [territorial] waters of Yemen: …the attack on the American destroyer [USS] Cole in October 2000, and the [attack on the] French oil tanker Limburg in 2002.”

The article adds: “As we draw near to the [crucial] hour when the leadership of the Zionist-Crusader campaign will be dragged to the [negotiation] table to accept the [mujahideen's] terms… it is necessary to [extend] the battle to the seas. The mujahideen have successfully established units of martyrdom-seekers on land; the sea is the next strategic step towards controlling the world and restoring the Islamic caliphate.”

Finally, the article stresses that the seas off the coast of Yemen, namely the Gulf of Aden, the Bab Al-Mandeb strait and the Red Sea are of supreme strategic importance in the campaign to expel the enemy from key locations. If the enemy loses these key areas, it explains, “he will not be able to defend himself on land and [to protect] his naval bases from the mujahideens’ attack.”

Syrian tried on charge of smuggling narcotics into Yemen
Saturday, 10-May-2008

al-Motamar
Almotamar.net - Specialised Yemeni First Instance Criminal Court on Saturday decided to postpone till next Saturday trial of a Syrian national accused of bringing into Yemen more than 450 thousand narcotic tablets Keptagon. The court decision was for allowing the defendant’s lawyer time to study the file of the case.

At the beginning of the court sitting statement of indictment was read out and it included that the defendant Faez Mustafa Dureid, 31, a Syrian nationality working as a tradesman, accused of bringing and possessing more than 450 thousand tablets of narcotic drug Keptagon captured at Sana’a Airport and hidden in sacks of sweets.

During the session held under chairmanship of Judge Muhsin Alwan the prosecution presented evidence of the case and confessions of the defendant in the reports. The charge mentioned the defendant brought sweets from Syria sent for him by a person called Mohammed Ali al-Khalidi living in an area of Madhaya situated between Syria and Lebanon. On his part the defendant is supposed to distribute the drugs to narcotics agents who are Abu Ali Shas, Yemeni and Abu Saleh, a Saudi.

Investigations revealed that the quantity of narcotics brought into Yemen since the beginning of January 2006 amounted to 26000 tablets. The defendant receives the amounts of drugs sent from Syria in the form of desserts and drug tablets are hidden inside.

In his response to the charge the defendant denied the accusation and the defence lawyer asked for photocopying the case file to be able to prepare his defence in the next sitting.

yeah yeah, its safe in Yemen

Khaleej Times

Local News: Why Al Qaeda in Yemen is wooing the Saudis
Saturday 10 May 2008 / Mareb Press

“Come to Yemen… “ This is an appeal by Nayef bin Mohamed Al-Khatany (Abu Humam), a Saudi member of Al Qaeda who is wanted by Saudi security forces and is believed to be hiding in Yemen. Al-Khatany was recently accused by the Yemen authorities of being the main financier of the two major attacks on Yemen’s oil installations in Marib and Hadramaut carried out by Al Qaeda in Yemen in September 2006. The ‘call’ appeared in the March edition of Sada al-Malahim, the organisation’s magazine that surfaced for the first time on Jihad websites early this year.

The magazine published a two-part interview with Al-Khatany. Asked why he, as a Saudi, decided to come to Yemen instead of fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan, Al-Khatany said that Saudi Arabia remains the main battlefield for two reasons: its symbolic value as the home of Islam and its strategic value as the major oil producer and supplier.

The Khatany statement admits that the Al Qaeda branch in Saudi Arabia has lost its battle in the Kingdom as most of its members have been either killed or are in prison. He calls upon the remaining members of the Saudi branch to migrate to Yemen without delay “in order to escape sure arrest by Saudi authorities.”

(Read on …)

RFERL

Meanwhile, a Yemeni state security court of appeals this week reduced a jail term for a national convicted of trying to go to Iraq for jihad. Bashir Muhammad Nu’man was sentenced last week to five years in prison for using a forged passport to travel to Syria with the intention of joining Al-Qaeda. The appeals court reduced the sentence to two years in prison for Nu’man, who was said to have been arrested in Syria and extradited to Yemen in February 2007, reportedly without offering any explanation….

Some neighboring states have taken the initiative to secure their borders with Iraq. Indeed, it does not appear that Arab foreign fighters have had any success in crossing the Kuwaiti, Saudi, or Jordanian borders into Iraq.

Syria has long been considered the main access point for foreign fighters, and despite some claims that the Syrian authorities are taking steps to control that flow, it is clearly not doing enough. Likewise, Iran has been reported to be another entry point for foreign fighters, particularly for Arabs entering Iraq from Afghanistan. Until Iraq can improve security along its porous borders with Iran and Syria, the problem will remain a major impediment to Iraqi security for years to come.

So they launch morters the Customs Authority, next to Italian embassy, and miss, again.

Two explosions rocked the customs ministry adjacent to the Italian embassy in Sana’a. Offices had not opened yet. No injuries were reported. The blasts were caused by mortars the defense ministry said, but a security official said two car bombs were left inside the compound. A witness said bombs at the exterior wall caused the explosion.

News Yemen
Eyewitnesses said two rounds were fired early Wednesday at the Customs Training Institute that belongs to the Customs Authority near the Italian embassy in al-Safiya area of the capital Sana’a.

Sources said security forces have quickly rushed to the area and closed all ways to the building and Italian embassy. No casualties or huge damages reported. Yemeni authorities do not have any official announcement about the attack, if it is accidental or criminal, but al-Arabiya TV channel reported that al-Qaeda claimed the responsibility.

Yemen has recently witnessed terror attacks on foreign interests, particularly in Sana’a, Marib and Hadramout.

The new attack came one day after a proclamation attributed to al-Qaeda, posted on an internet website called al-ekhlas Islamic network, has claimed responsibility of organizing attacks on Yemeni shores against commercial, tourist, and oil tankers in an effort to control the Yemeni waterways as a new tactic.

Al-Sahwa: Tarek wants to build a bridge over the Bab al Mandab.

Yemen

Yemen’s 2007 counterterrorism record was mixed. The Republic of Yemen took action against al-Qa’ida (AQ) and local extremists, arresting and killing several individuals suspected of having AQ ties, and prosecuted the perpetrators of previous terrorist acts. However, significant setbacks included the June 22 announcement that Abu Basir Nasir al-Wahishi was the new head of al-Qa’ida in Yemen (AQY), and the July 2 terrorist attack in Marib that killed ten people. Despite United States pressure, Yemen continued to implement a surrender program with lenient requirements for terrorists it could not apprehend, which often led to their relatively lax incarceration. Yemen also released all returned Guantanamo detainees after short periods of assessment and rehabilitation, into a government monitoring program that lacked strict monitoring measures. U.S.S. Cole bomber Jamal al-Badawi’s continued incarceration remained uncertain at the end of 2007.

(Read on …)

SVC

ABOUT 20 people suspected of having links with Al Qaeda have been arrested and questioned by security authorities in Uganda since the beginning of the year.

According to security sources, the majority of them have been released and some deported after under-going what security officials described as “thorough screening”.

“We have a computerised list of the most wanted people who engage in terrorist activities and with links to Al Qaeda. We have nabbed 18 since this year began,” said the security source attached to the immigration department at Entebbe Airport.

The source said most of the suspects are handed over to the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) and Internal Security Organisation (ISO) for questioning.

The list, of over 100 most wanted suspects, was released by the US’ Federal Bureau of Investigations and Central Intelligence Agency after the September 11, 2001 attack that left over 3,000 dead in the US.

Al Qaeda, headed by Osama bin Laden, tops the list of terrorist organisations in the world. The 1998 attacks on the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam were the group’s first major operations in East Africa.

The majority of the suspected Al Qaeda agents picked by Ugandan security for questioning are said to be from Pakistan, London, Somalia, Iraq, Yemen, Canada and Ireland.
The External Security Organisation (ESO) Deputy Director General, Emmy Allio, on Friday confirmed that some terrorist suspects are held for questioning.

He said four Yemen nationals who had come for the Afro-Arab summit that ended two weeks ago were held briefly after they were suspected of having links with Al Qaeda. “They had names similar to those of the most wanted persons in our data bank. They were not detained, but held overnight in a Kampala hotel,” said Allio.

The suspects were later released as their faces differed from those on the security list. He, however, declined to divulge the names of the four.

The ISO chief, Amos Mukumbi, declined to discuss the number of people arrested for having links with Al Qaeda saying: “Those are very sensitive security matters.”

Asked to comment on the arrest of London-based Somali national Ali Abdi Hassan, who was arrested in Entebbe Airport as he entered Uganda on February 12, 2008, Mukumbi said: “Leave that issue alone.”

A senior official attached to CMI who preferred to remain anonymous said: “It may be true that the number is 28, but most were set free after questioning.”

I, however, can’t tell you how many we still have at the moment.”

Is this the same 28 as in December? Sounds like one of those Nigerian scams, using a phone recording from Zawaheri on your cell to collect money….

Update: No its new

Earth Times:

Riyadh - Saudi Ministry of the Interior arrested 28 suspects for planning terror attacks and seeking to recruit youths and rebuild al-Qaeda’s local cells, Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television said Monday. The suspects were among 56 people arrested in anti-al-Qaeda security sweeps in recent months, the broadcaster quoted the ministry as saying.

The suspects, including a Yemeni and a Sudanese, were seeking to raise money in the oil-rich kingdom by using a recording of al- Qaeda’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, the ministry said.

A man was arrested in Mecca with a mobile phone on which al- Zawahri’s message was recorded.

In December, 28 terror suspects had been arrested in security raids across the country on suspicion of plotting terror attacks during the Muslim pilgrimage.

Saudi Arabia has seen a wave of terror attacks by al-Qaeda loyalists since 2003.

MC:

Riyadh - A senior Saudi official said Wednesday that a terror cell uncovered this week was plotting attacks on oil installations and security forces in Saudi Arabia and receiving instructions from al-Qaeda members operating from an Arab country.

Saudis, three Palestinians and a Yemeni were among the 28 militants arrested Monday in a security sweep on suspicion of seeking to rebuild the al-Qaeda terrorist network in the kingdom, a senior official from the Saudi Ministry of Interior told local newspaper Okaz.

Security forces found during the latest sweep an audio recording from al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, on a memory card on the mobile phone of the alleged leader of the terror cell.

The bearer of al-Zawahri’s message delivered it to the cell leader in Mecca during the Muslim pilgrimage in December, unnamed security sources told Okaz.

The man, who is believed to be a non-Arab national, might have left the country after delivering the message, the sources added.

An interior ministry statement quoted al-Zawahri as urging militants in the message to raise cash donations for families of prisoners in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Police also seized cash in euros from the terror cell leader. The sources explained that the cell could have received the euros through bank transfers sent from abroad.

Another possibility was that the money was converted from Saudi riyals into euros and was supposed to be sent to al-Qaeda members abroad, according to the sources.

Cell members received instructions from al-Qaeda leaders believed to be operating from a key Arab country, the sources said without naming the country.

They said, however, that it was the same country from where al- Qaeda’s former military commander, the Egyptian Sayf al-Adl, was believed to have given the green light for deadly attacks on housing complexes in Riyadh in May 2003.

Al-Qaeda leaders abroad gave instructions to the terror cell to recruit Saudi youths for terror attacks to be carried out in neighbouring countries, the Saudi official said.

Attacks on oil installations, key buildings and security forces in Saudi Arabia were planned by the militants.

Saudi investigators said that militants are now burying their weapons and ammunition underground instead of keeping them in their hideouts, according to security sources.

Saudi Arabia has launched a major crackdown on militants to root out al-Qaeda cells, which have been blamed in recent years for a wave of attacks on oil buildings, housing compounds of international firms and security forces’ headquarters.

In December, the country announced the arrest of 56 terrorist suspects.

The Limburg was bombed in 2002. It was also the year the FBI issued the alert for Fawz Al-Raibi and the seeking info bulletin on several of his buds. CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A Guantanamo Bay detainee from Saudi Arabia — who is also the brother-in-law of a September 11, 2001, hijacker — faces terrorism charges, the U.S. Office of Military Commissions said Friday.

Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al Darbi is accused of plotting attacks on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz and off the Yemeni coast.

He was charged with conspiring with others to attack civilians, to murder in violation of the law of war and to destroy property in violation in of the law of war, the office said in a statement.

He was also charged with conspiring to hazard a vessel and to commit terrorism, as well as providing material support to terrorism.

Prosecutors allege that al Darbi traveled to Jalalabad, Afghanistan, where he met with Osama bin Laden, trained at al Qaeda’s Jihad Wahl training camp and later was a weapons instructor at another al Qaeda camp.

From 2001 through 2002, authorities believe al Darbi moved money from al Qaeda into banks to finance a plot to attack the vessel, the statement said.

Al Darbi allegedly prepared for an al Qaeda attack by traveling to several countries to buy a GPS device, a boat and other equipment in late 2000 or early 2002, the office said.

He registered the boat as the “al Rahal” under his own name under the Sao Tome flag, and bought a second boat to teach Yemenis how to swim and how to operate it, authorities said.

In the spring of 2002, al Darbi left the United Arab Emirates on the boat headed for Yemen, but diverted to Somalia because of concerns with his passport — discussing those plans by satellite phone, the office said.

Al Darbi is the brother-in-law of Khalid al-Mihdhar, a hijacker aboard American Airlines Flight 77 on September 11, 2001, the military said.

Sworn charges must be forwarded for review to a convening authority, which can then refer them to trial or may dismiss them, the office said.

If the charges are referred to trial, a judge and trial dates will be named later.

AP: The prosecutor general also said that a recently captured Fatah al-Islam militant told authorities that al-Absi fled the camp the night of September 1, a few hours before the remaining militants inside Nahr al-Bared attempted to escape. He has possibly fled to another refugee camp.

Mirza said that two days ago a Yemeni citizen identified as Nasser Mohammed Yahya Shiba, 24, was arrested in the Minyeh region north of the camp and testified that he and three other militants had fled with al-Absi.

News Yemen notes:

Special sources told NewsYemen that three Yemenis, one of them was killed, have left Aden to join fighting in Iraq, but they have immediately changed their destination to Lebanon where they have joined Fatah al-Islam.

Yes, but I thought it was six who left Aden and were told in Syria to divert to Lebanon. Some refused, and there were varying outcomes for the others. Anyway this leads to the question, who in Syria turned them to Lebanon instead of Iraq? After the last sweep, Saudi security noted terror cells (including suiciders) utilized both safe houses in Syria and permanent training camps in North Yemen (Sa’ada).