Armies of Liberation

First of all, lets keep in mind that the report that “a missile” from the international fleet targeted the first Yemeni fishing boat that exploded Tuesday off the coast of the Sudan is entirely unsubstantiated and a product of the Yemeni State Media, which often lies, blatant absurd lies.

In the second case this week, the official story that follows is three fishermen exited the boat at Yemen’s Honey Island (what a nice name!) and triggered a land mine. It could be, or it could be something else like a new trade in more volatile explosives. I haven’t a clue, there are a lot of land mines in Yemen, but one exploding Yemeni fishing boat is odd, two is flakey. Both stories were announced by Saba:
Mine explosion kills two Yemeni fishermen in Red Sea island

HODEIDA, May 28 (Saba) – Two days after a missile hit a Yemeni boat in the Red Sea killing and injuring its crew members, two Yemeni fishermen died on Thursday but this time a landmine explosion was probably behind the catastrophe which took place in the Honey Island near the Yemeni island of Al-Zubair in the Red Sea.

A third Yemeni fisherman was seriously injured and taken to a hospital in Hodeida and he is still in the intensive care unit.

Sources told news websites the boat had a crew of 11, but only three were at the boat when the explosion took place, while the other crew members were preparing a meal.

When the three left their boat in the island, an explosion was heard which preliminary investigations revealed it was a mine detonation killing two and hurting the third.

The two killed were identified as Abdu Ibrahim, 20, and Ahmed Ibrahim,35.

However, speculations arose that the explosion was a missile that targeted the boat, raising fear international troops are aiming to cleanse Yemeni fishermen under the pretext of being suspected pirates.

On Tuesday, a missile, believed to be fired by one of the international naval ships patrolling the region, hit a Yemeni boat killing and injuring its crew members.

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.

Hard to know who’s more likely to be the liar. They were there and there was the raid. That’s about all we know at the moment. Now AQAP is threatening to unleash their minions of teen-age suicide bombers. And AQAP says the regime lies in order to gain international support. News Yemen

The so-called al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula has denied reports by the Interior Ministry that security services have recently arrested ten of its members in Shabwa province, southern Yemen.

In a statement posted on the blog mojahed.net, the al-Qaeda said the Interior Ministry creates allegations and fabricates untrue stories to allege “fictitious” successes. It was just air strike on tribes in Shabwa where six tribesmen were arrested, said the statement.

Security services have never arrested anyone of our Jihadists under the leadership of Qasem al-Reimi and no one has surrendered, said the statement. It has labeled officials in Yemen and Saudi as “apostates” who it said lie about successes against al-Qaeda just to get more assistance from “infidels”.

The proclamation said the group has recruited tens of new Jihadists, who are prepared for Jihad and martyrdom, as it said.

In its response to al-Qaeda’s proclamation, a security source said in a statement to official media that al-Qaeda’s threats are just media splash.

“Al-Qaeda could attack innocent tourists and civilians, but it is too coward to challenge security forces or attack security officials,” said the source.

Trial Updates, Yemen Observer (Read on …)

Another case of the regime’s interests dovetailing with AQAP. CBS:

(CBS)A senior Saudi Arabian al Qaeda operative has called on Somali jihadists to step up their attacks on “crusader” forces at sea in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, and on land in neighboring Djibouti, which hosts France?s largest military base in Africa. (Read on …)

I believe Libya more than Iran on funding the Houthis and Iran more than Libya on funding and facilitiating AQAP but thats just me. The idiots haven’t figured out that they are pawns in a much bigger game and never considered that they are being two timed by their own side. Its an amazingly complicated tangle of alliances going on over their heads.

Al Hayat: Al-Awfi is still “lost” despite his recantation and the fact that he handed himself in. As proof, he did not apologize for his “terrorist” acts and intentions. This is important because a confession is different, to the mentality of these men, from an apology. His admiration of the actions and intentions of his former colleagues and his Sheikh, Osama Bin-Laden, also casts doubts about the sincerity of his recantation of their course and ideology. (Read on …)

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 …)

Govt paper www.mayonews.net

May News – The governor of Abyan (South Yemen), Ahmed Ahmed Almisri that preliminary investigations with the subversive elements that have been arrested during the crackdown Almoktefp cells are the last of the invited Khalid Abdul Nabi and call themselves the jihadist groups are engaged in acts of sabotage and terrorist criminal threats to social peace of the province said. (Read on …)

Yemen Times
SANA’A, Aug. 1 — Media sources revealed at the end of the week that seven individuals suspected of being affiliates of the Jihad Organization, known as Hitat Group or Yemeni-Afghans Group, managed to escape Al-Bahrain Prison in Ja’ar city, Abyan Governorate. (Read on …)

Yes of course he has links to al Qaeda but why the turn around? Everybody knew where he was, preaching in a mosque on Fridays… Is it another propaganda or did he hook up with Wahishi? Or is this the mistaken identity guy from a while ago, the “not the correct Abdullah al Reimi” who the PSO failed to release. Where’s those handy-dandy mobile biometric ID kits?

Al-Raimi links to al-Qaeda, says interior minister
[13 April 2009]

SANA’A, April 13 (Saba)-The Minister of Interior Mutahar Rashad al-Masri told the parliament on Monday that Abdullah Saad al-Raimi- have been arrested by the security forces- has ties with al-Qaeda network and two Old Sana’a and Sinin terror cells.

The minister added that al-Raimi was arrested with Fahid al-Wahish while they prepared a group of youths to commit terror operations, saying that al-Raimi would be sent to prosecution soon as he is considered as a dangerous terrorist.

In his reply on a question by a member parliament over current tight security measures around the US embassy in Sana’a, the minister said that measures are temporarily.

It is worth mentioning that the US embassy subjected last year for terror attack.

Hittar’s program officially ended in 2005 and Saleh started openly negotiating directly with the muahadeen in 2006 along with al Qamish through abu Al Fida and others.

HRW:

But Yemen closed its program in 2005 after a pan-Arab
newspaper reported that a pair of graduates had since gone to Iraq to launch a suicide attack against US forces. Intelligence
officials also allegedly suspect three graduates may have played a role in the September 2009 bombing of the US Embassy.
Some graduates of the Yemeni program, including bin Laden’s former bodyguard Nasser al-Bahri, have said they simply
repeated what teachers wanted to hear. “We understood what the judge wanted and he understood what we wanted from
him,” al-Bahri was quoted as telling BBC News in 2005, referring to the program’s supervisor. “There was no long or complex
dialogue.” See Tim Whewell, “Yemeni Anti-Terror Scheme in Doubt,” BBC News international version, October 11, 2005, (accessed December 5, 2008.)

This would be funny except the guy got a death sentence.

Sanaa, 23 March (AKI) – Yemeni Bassal al-Haidari was sentenced to death by the country’s special criminal court in Sanaa on Monday after being found guilty of contacting Israel’s outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert and offering to collaborate with Israel. (Read on …)

11 Syrians, 4 Yemenis and a Saudi according to some, IHT says 2 Syrians, 14 Yemenis.

The Associated Press
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
SAN’A, Yemen: Yemeni prosecutors brought 16 suspected al-Qaida members to trial Wednesday on terrorism charges that include an attack on the American embassy and killings of foreigners in Yemen.

The men — 14 Yemenis and two Syrians — stood inside a courthouse in the capital San’a as their trial started and heard the charges against them. The hearings were then adjourned.

The prosecution alleged the suspects formed an al-Qaida cell that masterminded a spate of attacks. The men were arrested on separate occasions between 2007 and 2008.

Some of them are accused of firing a volley of mortars at the U.S. embassy compound in March 2008. The mortars hit an adjacent girls high school instead, killing a Yemeni guard and wounding dozens of schoolgirls.

The charges also include 23 other terrorists acts, such as the Jan. 2008 killing of two female Belgian tourists, attacking a foreigners’ residential compound in Hadramout province (?) and clashes with police in which an al-Qaida militant leader was killed.

Al-Qaida has for years maintained a strong presence in Yemen — an impoverished country on the southwest corner of the Arabian peninsula that is also the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden.

In recent years, Yemen has cooperated with the U.S. in fighting terrorism, but its government has struggled to confront Islamic extremists.

Yemen has also seen numerous high-profile, al-Qaida-linked attacks, including the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in the Gulf of Aden, which killed 17 American sailors.

A Sept. 2008 attack on the U.S. Embassy involving gunmen and explosives-packed vehicles killed 17 people, including six militants. Al-Qaida later claimed responsibility for that attack.

Three mortar attacks
Suicide car bombing in Sayoun
Ambush of Belgain tourists

According to the National’s souces in Pakistan, Waheshi replaces Zarchawi. So again, still, there’s that AQ Central tie in to that was so hard for some to fathom. Both UBL and Zawaheri agreed to the promotion. If the reporting is correct, Waheshi is designated to plot attacks, collect funds and coordinate training.

Waheshi doesn’t know he’s a stooge, a strawman, probably being set up for assassination. The Yemeni regime, which knows where he is curently, is going to kill him sooner or later and Saleh will be a hero. Maybe some attacks prior against western or Saudi targets, but not the LNG. The West will claim it as a victory, another AQ number 2 bites the dust. Everyone will be happy, something similiar to the actual story of al Harithy, and no still witnesses! Too bad Fawaz al Raibi wasn’t taken alive, he had a lot to say. Where is Abu Bakr these days?

The Nation, PK: PESHAWAR – Abu Nasar Al-Haweshi from Yemen has been nominated as Al-Qaeda’s leader for Gulf Region, The Nation learnt through highly-placed reliable sources on Sunday.

Belonging to Yemen, Abu Nasar Al-Haweshi, also known as Abu Baseer, is active in Al-Qaeda since long. His nomination aimed at filling the office, which had fallen vacant after the death of Abu Zarqavi in Iraq in 2006.

According to the sources, there was no any replacement of Zarqavi since his death. Now both Osama bin Laden and Dr Aiman Al Zawahiri agreed on assigning the task to Abu Nasar Al Haweshi. The assignments of Abu Nasar, beside engineering and plotting, include collection of donation for war from the Gulf region and facilitating the militants in getting training from border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Abu Nasar was considered fifth amongst leading Al Qaeda commanders like Abu Laith Al Laibi, Abu Zarqavi, Abdullah Kurd and Abdul Hadi. Both Abdul Hadi and Abu Zarqavi were killed in Iraq, Abu Laith Al Laibi in North Waziristan and Abdullah Kurd in Qandahar Afghanistan.

Abu Nasar remained in Duranta training camps during Taliban regime in Afghanistan. He also fought against the Northern Alliance, headed by late Ahmad Shah Mesud in Takhar, Hirat and Bagram regions. He had served Osama bin Laden as his security chief for a couple of months.

During his stay in Afghanistan, Abu Nasar remained very close to both former ministers Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani and Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund.

They forgot to mention Wahishi was originally sent to Afghanistan by Saleh’s uncle on his mother’s side, Ali Maqasa.

Updated: Al Awfi surrendered in Sahbwa, not Marib where all the hunting was going on, where Saleh was threatening the tribes. He surrendered to the Saudi authorities through a Sheikh and contacted his rehab program first. Its a good development but says more about the Saudis than Saleh. Actually it says a bit about Saleh. Update two: there’s link, handy. More:

JEDDAH: A wanted Saudi terrorist, who had become an Al-Qaeda commander in Yemen after returning from Guantanamo prison, has turned himself in to Saudi authorities, an Interior Ministry spokesman said yesterday. The spokesman said the man, Mohammed Ateek Al-Aufi Al-Harbi, surrendered as a result of the combined efforts of Saudi and Yemeni security agencies. He expressed his desire to surrender through his family.

One more: Earth Times: The ministry said in a statement the man gave himself up to police in the south-eastern Yemeni province of Shabwa. How did he get to Shabwa? And where are the others?

Another update: The Saudis said on 2/19 there was no arrest in Yemen of 7 Saudi AQ and the Yemeni govt retracted the following story:
Original post: Coordination pays dividends (Saudi/Yemeni border patrols). The seven were a well trained cell, familiar with remote control bombs. They were trained inside Saudi Arabia and arrested along the border- Saada, al Jawf or Hadmarout? They were sent on orders from AQ central. But but…

Investigation with a 7-member terrorist cell almotamar.net – Security authorities in Yemen have begun investigating with a terrorist cell composed of seven persons from among 30 persons arrested during a storming operation carried out by police in a number of areas situated along the borders between Yemen and Saudi Arabia last week.

A security source told almotamar.net Monday that first investigations disclosed that members of the cell were receiving orders from al-Qaeda organisation leadership to infiltrate into the Yemeni territories and to prepare for carrying out a series of terrorist attacks against foreign interests and tourist facilities in Yemen in addition to training a number of al-Qaeda members in Yemen.

According to the source the members of the cell hold the Saudi nationality. They had received intensive combat and offensive trainings inside Saudi Arabia on the use of different weapons, planting bombs and detonating them from distance and engagement with security men and launching direct attack.

This development comes at a time the when Yemen and Saudi Arabia have risen their level of coordination for fighting terror and controlling the borders of the two countries with the aim of preventing infiltration attempts by al-Qaeda elements after its announcement of establishing a new unified leadership in the Arabian Peninsula.

Update: Yemen: Field Commander of Al-Qaeda military operations in the Arabian Peninsula turns himself in to Yemeni security authorities

YemenOnline. Feb 17, 2009 – One day after the statement by the Minister of Interior that al-Qaeda no longer exists in Yemen, Mohammed Al-Awfi, a Saudi national who has been an ex-gitmo, turned himself in to Yemeni security authorities, which in turn handed him over to Saudi Arabia, security sources said. Al-Awfi recently appeared in an online video with a number of Al-Qaeda leaders in Yemen and with Sa’ad Al-Shahri, who both escaped from Saudi Arabia into Yemen, and was declared as a field commander of military operations. Al-Awfi’s surrender is in line with what was circulated today about commencing investigations with a terrorist cell composed of seven Saudi nationals who had been arrested during a raid launched by the Yemeni security agencies in a number of areas on the Yemen-Saudi Arabia borders between last week.

Maybe he’s sorry.

Fox: Sheik Mohammed al-Nujaimi, who helps run the rehab program, said al-Awfi had contacted the program’s headquarters and “expressed a desire to surrender and return to Saudi Arabia.” Saudi government officials confirmed that he would return to the rehabilitation center.

Major General al Masri, currently MOI, was formerly the Governor of Sa’ada, appointed in 2007. His announcement that AQAP is all propaganda is rather ironic. Al Masri is undoing a prior government announcement that 6000 arrests and 4000 wanted persons were linked to al Qaeda, but he goes a bit over the line in announcing that there are none.

News Yemen Minister of Interior Mutahar Rashad Al-Masri confirmed that Al-Qaeda is no more existed in Yemen, and that the 4000 wanted people announced by the ministry are wanted over criminal acts. ===========

Yemen reportedly released dozens of al-Qaeda suspects in prisons in some Yemeni provinces early this month. Yemeni officials denies the release of al-Qaeda militants and said the security authorities released 108 prisoners who have already served their terms in jail or proven to be innocent…. Yemeni officials repeatedly said that the al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula is “just media propaganda”.

On a related note, Empty Quarter has a post saying that 34 of the 112 prisoners released were previously demanded by al Qaeda on al Ekhlas, before it went down. These include Ibrahim al Muqri one of the 2006 escapees who was later arrested in Kenya and returned to Yemen. This news elicits a benign interpretation- Saleh is sincerely trying to fracture al Qaeda and jihaddist groups by releasing al Qaeda’s poster children. Its a bit of a stretch in light of the overall picture, but it would be nice if it was true.

Related: DNI Assessment:

Al-Qa’ida in Yemen. Yemen is reemerging as a jihadist battleground and potential regional base of operations for al-Qa’ida to plan internal and external attacks, train terrorists, and facilitate the movement of operatives. Al-Qa’ida leaders could use al-Qa’ida in Yemen and the growing presence of foreign jihadists there to supplement its external operations agenda, promote turmoil in Saudi Arabia, and weaken the Salih regime.
• Al-Qa’ida in Yemen on 17 September 2008 conducted an attack against the US Embassy in Sana’a. The coordinated attack used two explosives-laden vehicles, suicide bombers, and small-arms fire and killed six guards and four civilians. As of September 2008, the group had conducted 20 attacks against US, Western, and Yemeni targets, most carried out by the splinter faction, Jund al-Yemen.

They were other Islamists who have been dialoged, and all is well, according to Yemen Online. (If Nabi and Fahdli were there, then we have a pretty good idea.)

YemenOnline. Feb 10, 2009 – Sources told YemenOnline on Tuesday that none of the people released in the past two days were members of al-Qaida. Sources added that news and reports circulated lately regarding this are inaccurate and that the released prisoners belong to other Islamic groups who rejected terrorism after Yemeni authorities had conducted an intellectual dialogue with them.

More from CNN:

(CNN) — Yemen has denied “exaggerated and false” media reports that it recently released 170 al Qaeda suspects from its prisons, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by its embassy in Washington.

An unnamed security services official in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa told Agence France-Press on Sunday that Yemeni authorities had directives to release 176 people with links to the al Qaeda terrorist network. Of those, 95 had already been released, he told AFP.

The Yemeni Embassy said authorities have released 108 prisoners, but they were “not affiliated in any way to al Qaeda.”

“The released prisoners have been accused in the past of violating Yemeni laws and were tried in the courts,” the embassy said. “The majority of them have served their sentences in prison. The government of Yemen will continue to closely monitor all newly released prisoners.”

Al Needa

Entered the peace agreement between the Authority and jihadist groups like to take effect after a meeting between President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the leaders of those groups last Wednesday, January 21 last.
وإذ اكدت مصادر خاصة لـــ«النداء» أن الرئيس وجه باعتماد رواتب شهرية لقرابة 160 من عناصر تلك الجماعات، قالت إن التوجيه الرئاسي جاء بعد أن تعهد زعماء الجماعات وهم: سامي ديان، نادر الشدادي، باسل النقاز، ووجدي الحوشبي بالالتزام بالقانون وعدم إثارة الفوضى مجدداً في محافظة أبين. While sources confirmed to Al «appeal» to the President by the adoption of monthly salaries for nearly 160 of the elements of those groups, she said that the presidential directive came after the leaders pledged to groups who are: Diane Sami, Nader Chedadi, Basil Anakaz, Wagdi Boudart and commitment to law and not create chaos again in the governorate of Abyan.
وعلمت «النداء» من مصادر خاصة أن اجتماعات مكثفة سبقت لقاء زعماء الجماعات الجهادية بالرئيس دارت بين الوسطاء ونائب رئيس الجمهورية عبدربه منصور هادي.وقالت إن الوسطاء وعددهم 13 أقنعوا نائب الرئيس بضرورة احتواء تلك العناصر ومعالجة ظروفها المعيشية لضمان عودة الاستقرار إلى المنطقة. Al «appeal» from private sources that intensive meetings prior to the meeting the leaders of jihadist groups, the mediators between the President and Vice-President Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi. She said that the mediators and the 13 Vice-President, persuaded the need to contain these elements and deal with their living conditions to ensure the return of stability to the region.
وفقاً للمصادر فإن نائب الرئيس وجه بصرف 4 مليون للوسطاء مقابل المجهود الذي بذلوه لإنجاح الاتفاق. According to the sources, the Vice-President, in 4 million, regardless of the brokers in return for their effort for the success of the agreement. ومن هؤلاء الوسطاء وليد الفضلي مدير مكتب مصلحة الضرائب بأبين، وعبدالله بن جدِّي إمام جامع في مديرية خنفر، وحسان ديان ممثل عن الجماعات المسلحة. It is these intermediaries, and Walid al-Fadhli, Director of the Office of the Tax Department, sections, and Abdullah bin Imam of a mosque in serious Khanfar Directorate, Hassan Diane representative of the armed groups. وقالت المصادر إن رئيس الجمهورية أحال زعماء الجماعات إلى وزير الداخلية بعد أن وجه باعتماد رواتب شهرية لعناصرها تصرف من ميزانية الرئاسة. The sources said that the President of the Republic, the leaders of groups referred to the Minister of the Interior, after the adoption of the monthly salaries of the elements of the budget for the disposal of the Chair.
وأكدت أن وزير الداخلية في لقائه بزعماء الجماعات تحدث بلغة شديدة، وأبلغهم أن تصرفاتهم مجرَّمة وأن السجن هو مكانهم الطبيعي لولا قرار القيادة السياسية. She stressed that the Interior Minister in a meeting with leaders of groups speaking the language of serious and informed them that their behavior is criminal, prison and place in the natural resolution of the political leadership.
وقالت مصادر محلية في محافظة أبين إن إتفاق الصلح أثار استياء لدى القيادات الأمنية في المحافظة. Local sources said the province indicate that the peace agreement raised the resentment of the security leadership in the province.
وكشفت مصادر مقربة من فريق وسطاء اتفاق الصلح أن زعماء الجماعات الجهادية انتقلوا قبل ثلاثة أسابيع إلى العاصمة رفقة حراسة أمنية من الداخلية. Sources close to the group of mediators and the peace agreement that the leaders of jihadi groups have moved three weeks ago to the capital accompanied by a security guard of the Interior.
وفي سياق متصل أفرجت السلطات الأمنية في محافظة عدن أمس الثلاثاء عن 11 سجيناً من سجن المنصورة تم اعتقالهم بتهمة الانتماء إلى تنظيم القاعدة. In the context of related authorities released security in the governorate of Aden on Tuesday 11 prisoners from a prison in Egypt have been arrested on charges of belonging to al Qaeda.
ووفقاً لموقع «الصحوة نت» فإن الإفراج بموجب توجيهات عليا تأتي في إطار توجهات رسمية للإفراج عن السجناء المتهمين بالانتماء إلى تنظيم القاعدة ويقدر عددهم بــ140 سجيناً. According to the website «awakening Net» the release comes under the guidance of a high official in the orientations of the release of prisoners accused of belonging to al-Qaeda and the estimated 140 prisoners.

Asks them to fight the southerners:

al Sharea

The President will meet at 150 Jhadii personal show and best assesses points tribal presidential directives to prevent the participants in the protests

قالت مصادر مطلعة لـ”الشارع” إن الرئيس علي عبد الله صالح عقد، قبل أيام، لقاء في صنعاء مع أبرز ناشطي الجماعات الجهادية في محافظة أبين في اجتماع يعتقد أن له علاقة بفعاليات الاحتجاجات التي تشهدها المحافظات الجنوبية. Sources familiar with the “street,” said President Ali Abdullah Saleh held a few days ago, a meeting in Sanaa, the most prominent activists with jihad groups in the Abyan province in the meeting believed that the events related to the protests in the southern governorates.
والتقى الرئيس، قبل أسبوعين، بقرابة 150 شخصية جهادية وصلت إلى العاصمة قادمة من أبين تلبية لدعوة رسمية، وبينما عاد بعض هؤلاء إلى المحافظة خلال الأسبوعين المنصرمين فإن بعضهم لا يزال في صنعاء. He met with the President, two weeks ago, nearly 150 personal jihad arrived in the capital from the show at the official invitation, and while some of them returned to the preserve over the past two weeks, some still in Sanaa. (Read on …)

Yemen on high alert.

Of course AQY is and has been communicating with AQ central. The al Quds November article said as much. That interview was with an al Qaeda insider. The article in the Telegrah the same month and later corroborated at the LWJ were US sources, which I tend to believe.

I’m glad to see the US concern is not the result of al-Shihi’s emergence as number 2. There’s much bigger things to worry about.

The dead-enders returned from Iraq, the Saudi refugees and the indigenous local jihaddists are extremely dangerous because of their proximity to al Wahishi who is a long time bin Laden associate. The fact that the Saudi affiliate pledged loyalty to al Wahishi indicates its not a merger of equals but Saudi expats (and Iraqi returnees) are under al Wahishi. The new generation is increasingly under the command of the old generation and connected to AQ central, which historically has big plans.

My issue with the reformed cadre of old timers is that some of these are/were bin Laden’s very best friends, and operationally experienced. I strongly doubt their loyalty to Saleh exceeds their loyalty to bin Laden, meaning they could turn at a moment’s notice. Those who committed a crime and were convicted in Yemeni courts belong in jail, and their freedom is not something the US should adjust to in order to take pressure off Saleh.

CNN, Barbara Starr Over the last several weeks a growing number of al Qaeda operatives have entered Yemen from Saudi Arabia and have established a renewed network that potentially threatens U.S. and Saudi targets in the region, both U.S. and Yemeni officials have told CNN.

As a result Yemeni security forces have gone on high alert.

CNN spoke with three U.S. officials and a Yemeni embassy official who outlined new concerns about al Qaeda in Yemen that all three said go beyond the usual worries about the terror organization in Yemen. None of the officials could be identified by name because of the sensitivity of the information.

“There are strong indications of heightened activity in Yemen,” one U.S. official told CNN. “There is real concern in the U.S. government that al Qaeda is trying to mount attacks in Yemen.”

The United States continues to worry about attacks against the U.S. embassy or other U.S. business interests in Yemen the official said. But there are also growing concerns that a renewed al Qaeda network in Yemen could plan attacks against Saudi oil infrastructure or the massive cargo shipping operations that run through the immediate region — potentially disrupting an already shaky world economy.

The official said there is a flow of intelligence information in recent weeks backing up that assessment. “There are clear indications al Qaeda is placing emphasis on Yemen as a place to conduct operations and train operatives.”

Both U.S. officials said one of the major concerns is that a number of al Qaeda operatives have crossed the border from Saudi Arabia since a Saudi crackdown has stepped up. Al Qaeda, he said appears to be looking for a new place in the immediate area where it can still operate.

The officials could not say how many have operatives may have crossed but the second U.S. official said the United States has been watching closely and is seeing ‘gatherings’ of al Qaeda operatives and communication among them. There have also been signs of communication between al Qaeda in Yemen and the al Qaeda leadership believed to be hiding in Pakistan, the first official said…

The U.S. officials said the latest concerns about Yemen are not directly related to the emergence of Said Ali al-Shiri as the new deputy leader of Al Qaeda in Yemen.

The trial of the 16, and another set of masterminds, I can’t even keep up with all the persons who have been accused of the attacks

Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat – Yemeni juridical sources have revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that five Syrian and eleven Yemeni suspects are set to be tried for carrying out terrorist attacks in a number of governorates in Sana’a, Hadramaut and Aden.

The sources disclosed that the Court of First Instance, specializing in terrorism and state security cases in Yemen, will soon began trying the sixteen individuals who are accused of being affiliated with the al-Qaeda organization and carrying out terrorist operations targeting foreign and local Yemeni interests. Yemen’s Ministry of Defense website said that the accused Syrian suspects entered Yemen some eight years ago with Syrian Travel Documents and passports.

The juridical sources also disclosed that the Prosecution Office is about to complete questioning of the Qaeda elements which began early last week.

The Yemeni authorities blame the accused individuals of masterminding several terrorist acts in a number of governorates including; attacking the 7th July School for Girls located near the US embassy, which led to the deaths of several school girls, and killing two female tourist from Belgium in the Da’wan governorate, Hadhramaut, on 18 January 2006 and also attacking the Central Security Camp in Say’oun on 25 July 2007 with a car bomb, killing both the perpetrator and a security guard and injuring seventeen people.

The defendants are also accused of attacking al-Buraiqa oil refinery in Aden and Sana’a Customs head office on 30 April 2008.

Two of the Tareem cell elements, who were arrested by Yemeni security forces on 11 August 2008, will also be tried. During that operation, the Cell leader Hamza al-Quaiti and four of his companions were killed.

al Sahwa

Sahwa Net – Yemeni security forces released on Tuesday 11 al-Qaeda suspects who were held at al-Mansour prison in Aden , well-informed sources told Sahwa Net.

According to the sources, the release came following issuing official orders to the prison management , pointing out that these orders would include 140 prisoners charged with affiliation to al-Qaeda.

The sources also revealed that the freed persons pledged to abandon terror acts which could damage Yemen , its security and stability.

Yemeni security sources had declared last month that it managed to thwart escaping attempt from al-Mansoura prison, indicating that an underground tunnel was discovered inside the prison.

Update via Empty Quarter: Mukallapress reports that 20 were released to fight southerners after a meeting with Saleh that included Abdulkhalid al Nabi and others.

What that may mean is that Saleh is unable to get al Wahishi to fight the southerners for him and is reactivating the older generation. A schism between Saleh and al Wahishi is a good thing. Nabi was previously reported as fighting in Sa’ada, and the Zawahiri deal as reported focused on more fighters for Sa’ada in exchange for prisoner releases.

(Read on …)