Two Nigerians charged with links to Yemen al Qaeda

ABUJA | Fri Jul 6, 2012

 (Reuters) - Two Nigerians have been charged with collecting money from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen to pay for training for Nigerian militants, a court document shows.

The document filed late on Thursday at the Federal High Court said two men from Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos were accused of being members of the group and of collecting around $6,200 in U.S. dollars and Saudi riyals.

Neither of the accused was available for comment. If the men were convicted, it would be the first case to directly link Nigerian militant groups to AQAP.

Security sources say the militant Islamist sect Boko Haram, which launched an uprising in the country's largely Muslim north in 2009, has linked up with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), sending a few dozen fighters to Mali for training.

Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, jailed in the United States for a failed attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day in 2009, was seen as a loner with no known links to Boko Haram or any other Nigerian Islamist group.

Prosecutors said that plot was directed by U.S.-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who had become an al Qaeda leader in Yemen, where Abdulmutallab had been studying.

The document, filed in the court in the capital Abuja, said that, "Lukaman Babatunde, 30, at Lagos between June and July 2011...provided facilities for a meeting which you know is connected to an act of terrorism."

His accomplice Olaniyi Lawal collected the cash "with intent that the said money shall be used to recruit and transport members of a terrorist organization from Nigeria to Yemen for combat training in terrorism," it said.

Saudi Embassy in Yemen wasn't closed: Official Join our daily free Newsletter

MENAFN - Arab News - 05/07/2012

(MENAFN - Arab News) Alauddin Alaskary, deputy foreign minister for protocol affairs, has denied media reports the Saudi Embassy in Yemen was closed and subsequently reopened.

He said the Kingdom only closed down its consulate in the Yemeni port city of Aden and its consular section in Sanaa following the abduction of Saudi diplomat Abdullah Al-Khaldi on March 28 this year.

He hoped the Saudi consulates would also resume normal operations once the security situation improves.

A press statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also denied the embassy's closure, but confirmed the closure of the consulates. It said the embassy would still be able to issue visas.

Alaskary said the Kingdom and Yemen were working to free Al-Khaldi.

He added: "We are very concerned about the safety and security of our official."

Some media reports said the militants have dropped some of their ransom demands.

Al-Qaeda militants posted online a new video of Al-Khaldi recently.

The Saudi Ministry of Interior confirmed Al-Khaldi, who was abducted near his house in Aden, was being held by a Yemen-based Al-Qaeda branch. The confirmation came a few weeks after the kidnapping.

The Saudi Embassy in Sanaa received a phone call from Mashal Mohammed Rashid Al-Shadokhi, a fugitive who is No. 77 on a list of 85 men wanted by the Saudi government and who said he had the diplomat in his custody.

Al-Shadokhi fled to Yemen in 2009 after Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia and Yemen announced they would merge under the name of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The fugitive informed the Saudi Embassy that Al-Khaldi was being held by Al-Qaeda and relayed the terror network's conditions and demands for releasing him, adding he was in good health.

Al-Qaeda demanded all detained members of the terror network in the Kingdom's jails, including female members, be released and moved to Yemen, and that a ransom payment to be specified later paid.

A report published by Yemen Post newspaper yesterday said negotiations with Al-Qaeda to secure Al-Khaldi's release have resumed. An unnamed tribal chief predicted negotiations would be successful.

Al-Khaldi is the third Saudi national to be kidnapped in Yemen in as many years.

In April 2011, tribesmen seized a Saudi diplomat in the capital Sanaa. Saeed Al-Maliki, a second secretary at the Saudi embassy, was released nine days later.

In November 2010, gunmen abducted a Saudi doctor in north Yemen and demanded nine jailed Al-Qaeda militants be freed. He was released the same day after tribal mediation.

Abductions, killings and terror acts have become a routine affair in the country.

Yemen, supported by neighboring Gulf countries and the international community, is cracking down on militants on a daily basis. Yesterday Yemen arrested 13 members of an Al-Qaeda-linked cell tasked with killing government officials and intelligence officers.

A Yemeni Interior Ministry source said: "This was one of the most dangerous Al-Qaeda cells in Sanaa." He said the group behind the killing of an intelligence officer was responsible for the acts of terrorism in neighborhood, where President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi lived.

The group was also behind an assassination attempt yesterday when an official's car exploded minutes after he got out of it.

The United States and the Gulf states together with European allies are deeply worried by the threat of the Al-Qaeda offshoot that has exploited political instability in Yemen to gain a foothold in the country.

Yemeni warplanes also bombed militant hide-outs in the south of the country yesterday. The four airstrikes killed eight militants in the Al-Mahfadh area of Abyan, where they had taken refuge after being driven from their strongholds last month by Yemeni troops backed by the United States.

A popular uprising that began in January 2011 and eventually toppled former leader Ali Abdullah Saleh severely weakened central government control over Yemen. This also gave militants an opportunity to move freely and seize territory for the first time.

Yemeni warplanes raids kill 3 al-Qaida militants and injure 7 in the country's south

By Ahmed Al-Haj, The Associated Press July 4, 2012

SANAA, Yemen - Yemeni airstrikes killed three al-Qaida fighters and wounded seven in the country's south, a Yemeni military official said Wednesday. The strikes by Yemen's air force were part of an offensive against the militants.

The official said the raids targeted militants in the border between Abyan and Shabwa provinces.

Al-Qaida militants took advantage of a year of internal turmoil in Yemen that eventually led to the resignation of longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh to overrun large areas of the south.

The new president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, has made a top priority of retaking al-Qaida's positions, and an offensive against them has had some success. Militants have taken refuge in mountainous areas after the Yemeni military drove them out of strongholds. Wednesday's air strikes targeted their new hideouts.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity according to regulations.

The U.S. has been helping Yemen in its offensive against al-Qaida, considering the Yemen branch the most dangerous of the terror group's offshoots. The U.S. targets militants with drone strikes and advises Yemen's ground forces, though it rarely acknowledges its role.

Also in Abyan province Wednesday, the accidental explosion of an artillery shell killed a civilian and wounded three soldiers and six civilians, the military said.

In Sanaa, the Interior Ministry said 14 more al-Qaida militants have been arrested over planned attacks against foreigners, security and the military. Plots were uncovered last week.

Also Wednesday, the Defence Ministry said that two army officers close to Saleh have been charged with inciting militants to blow the country's main oil pipeline. The blast on May 14 caused a severe power outage and fuel shortage. It has since been repaired.

The ministry said in a statement that Col. Jubran al-Zayedi and Maj. Washash al-Zayedi, Saleh supporters from same tribe, co-operated with criminals and soldiers in sabotaging the oil pipeline. They also blew up a natural gas pipeline nearby several times.

Yemen's oil minister estimated that the repeated attacks cost the impoverished country $2.5 billion.

Yemen says arrests Qaeda-linked cell

Reuters

July 04, 2012

SANAA/ADEN (Reuters) - Yemen said on Wednesday it had arrested about 13 members of an al-Qaeda linked cell tasked with killing government officials and intelligence officers.

"This was one of the most dangerous al Qaeda cells in Sanaa," an Interior Ministry source said.

He said the group was behind the killing of an intelligence officer who was responsible for the neighborhood where President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi lived.

The group was also behind an assassination attempt on Wednesday when, the Interior Ministry said, an official's car exploded minutes after he got out of it.

The Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that three other militant cells had been broken up.

The United States is deeply worried by the threat of an al Qaeda offshoot that has exploited political instability in Yemen to gain a foothold in the impoverished state, which borders the world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia.

Yemeni warplanes bombed Islamist militant hideouts in the south of the country on Wednesday.

A local security official said four air strikes killed eight militants in the al-Mahfadh area of Abyan, where they had taken refuge after being driven from their strongholds last month by Yemeni troops backed by the United States.

Despite losing control over several towns in Abyan, the militants, who call themselves Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law), have proved they still pose a serious threat by assassinating a military commander in the port city of Aden last month.

Ansar al-Sharia swears allegiance to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which U.S. officials have called the most dangerous offshoot of the militant network.

A popular uprising that began in January 2011 and eventually toppled former leader Ali Abdullah Saleh severely weakened central government control over Yemen and gave Islamist militants an opportunity to seize territory for the first time.

Sanaa police chief 'escapes assassination'

A Yemeni police chief in the capital narrowly escaped an assassination attempt as explosives planted in his car blew up after he exited the vehicle

AFP , Wednesday 4 Jul 2012

A Yemeni police chief in the capital narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on Wednesday as explosives planted in his car blew up just minutes after he exited the vehicle, he told AFP.

Saleh al-Mustafa, police chief for Sanaa's western Mathbah neighbourhood, said he suspects Al-Qaeda militants were behind the attack.

"Thank God I wasn't there (in the car) or I would have been a victim just like our colleague," said Mustafa, referring to the assassination of intelligence officer Mohammed al-Qudami who was killed by a car bomb on Monday.

"Of course, this (type of attack) bears the hallmark of Al-Qaeda," he said, adding that the militants were "targeting security officials across the board."

According to Mustafa, Al-Qaeda militants "have a presence" in Sanaa's Mathbah neighbourhood and security forces have "been trailing them ... but they targeted us before we were able to capture them."

On Monday, Qudami was killed when a bomb strapped under the driver's seat of his car exploded.

He died in hospital from wounds sustained in the blast which according to a security official took place "just a few metres from President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi's house" in the capital.

No group has claimed responsibility for either bombing, but the defence ministry late Tuesday announced it had made an arrest for Qudami's assassination.

In a statement on their 26 September website, the ministry said the suspect was arrested after being found wearing "black glasses mounted with a video camera that filmed the assassination of the officer."

Last month, Yemeni troops recaptured a string of Al-Qaeda strongholds across the troubled south and east of the country where the militants had seized control last year.