AL-Qaida says to retreat from Yemeni town if gov't releases 400 terrorists

19th January 2012

Al-Qaida militants who have recently overrun the town of Radda proposed to the Yemeni government the release of 400 jailed operatives in return for the group's withdrawal. Such domestic insecurity aroused fears in the government and the media over the collapse of a Gulf-brokered power transfer deal.

Tariq al-Dhahab, the commander of the al-Qaida militants in Radda in al-Bayda province, some 130 km southeast of the capital Sanaa, told the tribal mediators that his group would retreat from the town if the transitional government sets free 400 al-Qaida convicts imprisoned in Sanaa, a government official told Xinhua on Wednesday.

"They also demanded the court to introduce the Sharia Islamic Law in the town," the official said on condition of anonymity.

An official of the Yemeni intelligence Political Security Agency told Xinhua "nearly all al-Qaida prisoners in south and southeast Yemen were rescued over the past months by their fellows, like what happened in provinces of Aden, Shabwa and Lahj. Or the prisoners broke out on their own by digging tunnels, like what happened in Mukalla on June, 22, 2011."

But in Sanaa, there is still a large number of al-Qaida operatives held in prison, said the intelligence official, who asked to remain anonymous.

Al-Qaida's demand was immediately rejected by the government and intelligence officials in Sanaa. "The government will not agree to the demand of the terrorists of releasing their jailed operatives," according to a brief statement by a senior official of the Yemeni government.

In response, the Yemeni government ordered the al-Bayda-based Republican Guard 26th Mechanized Brigade and security forces to be on high alert and wait for orders to raid Radda in case that the terrorists refuse to withdraw or surrender, according to military and security officials.

Local tribesmen also vowed to stand with the army in fighting al-Qaida militants.

On Sunday, Radda, a town of nearly 60,000 people, fell into the hands of some 1000 militants of the regional wing of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) led by al-Dhahab.

Al-Dhahab is a relative of the Yemeni-born U.S.-slain cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. He hosted Awlaki for months before the radical cleric was killed by unmanned drone last September, according to a source close to al-Qaida group.

The takeover of Radda, which came after AQAP took full control of a series of swaths and cities in restive north, south and southeast Yemen, raised fears among Yemeni officials over the collapse of a Gulf-brokered power transfer deal.

The head of the parliamentary ruling bloc, Sultan al-Barakani, told Xinhua on Wednesday that "the recent security deterioration and al-Qaida threats may hinder the transitional government from securing the presidential elections scheduled for Feb. 21."

Barakani made the statement upon his departure of the parliament, where the lawmakers failed again to debate an immunity law for outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh as part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) deal.

The GCC deal was signed by Saleh and his opponents in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 23, 2011. Under the deal, Saleh's deputy Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi will be the sole candidate for the presidential elections.

Barakani said the session for debating the draft law was postponed to Jan. 23, blaming the absence of Prime Minister Mohamed Basindwa and ministers of justice and legal affairs.

Barakani's remarks came a day after Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qerbi said that al-Qaida's grip on Radda could delay the planned presidential elections. Such statement angered the opposition leaders who blamed "Saleh's aides of handing over Radda to the terrorists."

Al-Bayda province, where Radda is located, is the ancestral home of AQAP leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi, who was Osama bin Laden's personal secretary in Afghanistan. He escaped along with about 24 others from Sanaa's intelligence prison in 2006 and formed the most dangerous regional terrorist network of al-Qaida militants in the Arabian Peninsula.

Source: GNA

Yemen amends immunity law, Saleh still protected

By Mohammed Ghobari

Thu Jan 19, 2012

SANAA (Reuters) - A Yemeni draft law granting immunity to the outgoing president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, from prosecution over the killing of protesters was amended on Thursday to limit the protection his aides would enjoy, a minister said.

The draft law, which has been heavily criticized by rights groups, the United Nations and Yemeni protesters, will now shield the aides only in "political cases," Legal Affairs Minister Mohammad Makhlafi told Reuters.

It had previously offered blanket immunity to associates of Saleh, who will still get full protection himself, Makhlafi said, without elaborating on what kinds of cases could be tried.

Under a power transfer plan hammered out by Yemen's wealthier Gulf neighbors and signed by Saleh in November, the veteran leader was promised legal immunity to help ease him out of office and end months of protests against his 33-year rule.

Rights groups say hundreds of protesters were killed by security forces in the uprising, which was punctuated by bursts of street fighting between Saleh loyalists and their foes.

Yemenis angry at the draft law are still taking to the streets calling for Saleh to be put on trial and U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay earlier this month warned the immunity offer could violate international law.

Discussion of the law in parliament has repeatedly been put off, but Makhlafi said it would now take place on Saturday.

The United States has defended the draft law as the only way to coax Saleh from power, but question remain over his intentions after he reversed a pledge to leave Yemen before presidential elections in February.

Washington and neighboring oil giant Saudi Arabia are keen for the plan to work, fearing protracted political upheaval will let al Qaeda's regional Yemen-based wing establish a foothold along oil shipping routes through the Red Sea.

Islamist militants this week seized the town of Radda, about 170 km (100 miles) southeast of the capital Sanaa, underscoring those concerns.

A tribesman negotiating with the militants on behalf of the government said their leader, Tareq al-Dahab, had refused to withdraw unless a council was set up to run the town according to Islamic law and 15 prisoners suspected of links to al Qaeda were released, including his brother Nabil.

Dahab is related to Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen whom Washington accused of a leadership role in the Yemeni branch of al Qaeda, and assassinated in a drone strike last year.

The tribesman, Sheikh Saleh al-Jawfi, said Islamism fighters from Abyan and Shabwa provinces had made their way to Radda to join militant ranks, adding that armed tribesmen were taking up positions in another part of the town.

Saleh's opponents have accused him of deliberately ceding territory to Islamists to prove his argument that only he stands in the way of an al Qaeda takeover in Yemen, from where the global militant network has previously launched abortive attacks.

PM's office denies Reuters reports on calling on President to leave

SANA'A, Jan. 19 (Saba) - An official source at the Prime Minister's office denied on Thursday reports of Reuters that he had called on President Ali Abdullah Saleh to leave the country before holding the early presidential elections on February 21.

He said that Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Basindwa answered a question of Reuters's correspondent about the President's travel to the United States or not, saying "What is being reported that the President will travel to the U.S.".

The source urged Reuters to seek accuracy in reporting and to translate literally the content of the Premier's answer.

UN envoy stresses keenness on ending crisis in Yemen

SANA'A, Jan. 18 (Saba) - The UN secretary general's envoy to Yemen Jamal Bin Omar stressed Wednesday the UN's keenness on succeeding the political process and ending the crisis in Yemen.

During his meeting with Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, Bin Omar briefed al-Qirbi on the outcomes of his meetings with some of the political parties in the country.

He praised the steps taken so far to implement the Gulf initiative and the UN Security Council resolution 2014.

For his part, al-Qirbi valued highly the UN efforts to ensure the initiative's implementation as well as the country's security and stability, stressing the government's determination to advance the political process and overcome any obstacle may hinder holding the early presidential elections on time, on February 21.

Former CIA official: Al-Qaeda in Yemen still nimble

By Jason Ukman

The killing of Anwar al-Awlaki was believed to have been a major blow to the propaganda efforts of al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen. But when it comes to his death’s impact on the ability of the group to carry out attacks, the picture remains as cloudy as it was when Awlaki was killed nearly four months ago.

It has been more than a year since the disruption of the last known terrorist plot by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula – an attempt to bring down two cargo jets over the United States with package bombs. It has more than two years since Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, reportedly trained by AQAP, attempted to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner.

What’s more, AQAP has been most active recently advancing its regional ambitions, not threatening attacks on U.S. soil.

Still, there are at least three key reasons to remain concerned about the persistent threat posed by AQAP, according to John McLaughlin, who was deputy CIA director from 2000 to 2004 and, briefly, the agency’s acting director.

The reasons, in short: speed, simplicity and strategy.

“Their operation that sent Abdulmutallab here in December of 2009 was something -- it was a pick-up game. It took about a month to get that thing going,” McLaughlin said Tuesday during an event on homeland security at the Woodrow Wilson Center. “They’re cheap: The package-bomb operation, by their own estimate, cost them about $4,200. And they have a strategy, which is a thousand cuts. So, basically, attack us where they can.”

There are also growing worries that AQAP is providing fighters and weaponry to other al-Qaeda affiliates, particularly al-Shabab in Somalia. Awlaki’s death has done little to allay those concerns, terrorism experts say, even though al-Shabab is still mainly regarded as a regional threat.

U.S. officials may have branded Awlaki as AQAP’s “chief of external operations” after his death. But McLaughlin said his loss has not “had a big impact on them operationally.”

The impact on AQAP’s propaganda efforts might be easier to measure. No one from AQAP’s ranks has been able to replace Awlaki as a messenger for the group. The last issue of the group’s online magazine, Inspire – believed to be largely the product of Samir Khan, the American killed alongside Awlaki in the U.S. drone strike – came out in September.

“I’m not sure how much AQAP will continue to be interested in a glitzy English-language Web journal,” Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst and terrorism expert, told The Post back in October. “But it’s still going to be interested in attacking the United States.”

Yemen Islamists say to quit town if prisoners freed

Wed Jan 18, 2012
SANAA (Reuters) - Yemeni Islamist fighters who seized a small town southeast of the capital Sanaa this week have said they will withdraw if several comrades are released from jail, tribal sources said on Wednesday.
Yemeni tribesmen negotiating with the militants on behalf of the government said Tareq al-Dahab, leader of the group that took over Radda about 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Sanaa, agreed to go if his brother Nabil and several others were freed.
Dahab is related to Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen whom Washington accused of a leadership role in the Yemeni branch of al Qaeda, and assassinated in a drone strike last year.
Radda's capture underscored U.S. fears that political turmoil in Yemen over the fate of President Ali Abdullah Saleh will give al Qaeda a foothold near shipping routes through the Red Sea and may spread to world No. 1 oil exporter Saudi Arabia.
Dozens of militants entered Radda on Sunday, expanding militant control outside the southern province of Abyan, where they have captured several towns since an uprising against Saleh began early last year.
Residents of Radda said the streets were empty and shops stayed shut on Wednesday.
Saleh formally handed over power to his deputy late last year, in line with a Gulf-brokered plan to end months of mass protests and bursts of open combat between his forces and those of a rebel general and tribal militias.
Under the deal hammered out by Yemen's wealthier neighbours, Saleh's General People's Congress and opposition parties divided up cabinet posts between them, forming a unity government to steer the country towards presidential elections in February.
But question marks remain over the intentions of the veteran leader, who recently said he would stay in Yemen, reversing a pledge to leave for the United States.
His opponents accuse him of ceding territory to Islamists to bolster his claim that his rule alone keeps al Qaeda from growing strong in Yemen, and ultimately aiming to retain power by sabotaging the transition deal.
Washington, which long backed Saleh as key to its "counter-terrorism" policy, endorses the transition plan. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that Saleh was failing to meet his pledges under the deal and that Washington was "focused on the threat posed by al Qaeda in Yemen".