20 - 26 December 2001
Issue No.565
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 20 - 26 December 2001 Issue No.565 |
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Dragging the terror net
With the war in Afghanistan nearly over, Yemen moved to forestall it's possible inclusion in the next phase of America's "war against terror", reports Nasser Arrabyee from Sana'a
Four people were killed in an exchange of heavy fire between tribesmen and Yemeni special forces trying to flush out suspected supporters of alleged terror mastermind Osama Bin Laden, tribal elders and sources familiar with the operation said. However, other sources said that at least 12 people were killed in the unprecedented crackdown.
Security officials in Marib province, 160 kilometres east of the capital, Sana'a, confirmed that special forces were in the Al- Halsun region of the province pursuing at least five men wanted by the government.
The officials said that after a two hour assault on the Adida tribe Tuesday morning, special forces successfully entered the area, but did not find the suspects.
In the exchange of tank, artillery and machine-gun fire, four tribesmen were killed and eight others, including several soldiers, were injured, according to the tribal sources.
Other sources in the region who were familiar with the operation said the bombing came after the tribe refused to hand over to authorities at least five men suspected of belonging to Bin Laden's Al-Qa'eda terrorist network.
Those sources said one of the men was on a three-man list of suspected Al-Qa'eda operatives in Yemen that US officials gave Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh during his visit to Washington last month.
The sources said at least one of the men being sought was a non-Yemeni Arab who had been in Afghanistan. They said special forces attacked after two days of negotiations with the Adida tribe ended in a deadlock.
A statement carried by Yemen's official news agency, Saba, said that "special security forces supported by military units of the armed forces and helicopters were pursuing some wanted elements suspected of being members of the Al-Qa'eda organisation."
The statement said that information had confirmed that suspects were hiding in the Balhareth district, Baihan province; Shabwah province in the south; and in the Obaidah district in Marib province in the north.
The statement warned "all who harbour or try to hide those elements," and called upon tribes to cooperate with security forces in pursuit of the wanted men.
Earlier this month, it was reported that police were chasing three prominent people from Marib province accused of having links with the Al-Qa'eda network.
In a recent interview, Yemeni President Saleh said that he agreed with US president George W Bush about detaining "two or three of the tribal chiefs in Marib suspected of having links with Al-Qa'eda." However, Saleh did not mention the names of the suspects.
Security sources said the fighting erupted on Tuesday when tribal chiefs refused to hand over a tribal leader and several Islamists who had fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
US ambassador in Sana'a Edward Hull told a Yemeni government newspaper this month that Washington knew that Bin Laden's Al-Qa'eda had cells in Yemen as well as in other countries.
Last year, 17 US sailors were killed in a suicide attack by suspected Islamist militants against a US destroyer that was making a refuelling stop in Yemen's southern port of Aden.
The government has said that several suspects in the attack had been arrested.
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