21 - 27 February 2002
Issue No.574
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 21 - 27 February 2002 Issue No.574 |
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One step ahead
Yemeni authorities are trying to keep on top of US demands to hunt local Al-Qa'eda suspects, but confrontations with powerful tribes may be the price, reports Nasser Arrabyee from Sanaa
Following a swift visit to Sanaa by US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief George Tenet on Saturday several reports in the local press claimed that he was in town to persuade Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to deploy US special forces in Yemen. Reports suggested that the US wants to replicate its mission in the southern Philippines and deploy military forces in Yemen to help hunt down suspected members of Al- Qa'eda terrorist organisation led by Saudi dissident Osama Bin Laden.
But an official source was quoted by the state news agency Saba on Sunday as dismissing the reports as "untrue and baseless." The source stressed that Yemen would not accept any foreign troops on its territory.
Despite official assurances, speculation was rife that the US is eager to get more involved in Yemen as part of its "war on terrorism." Because Tenet's visit to Sanaa came only two days after authorities announced the death of a key suspected Al- Qa'eda member in an armed clash with police, Yemeni press reports suggested that the government might be ready to cooperate with the US. The CIA chief's Sanaa stop also came a few days after a maximum security alert was issued by US authorities about a possible terrorist attack against American interests either in the United States or Yemen on 12 February.
Suspected Al-Qa'eda member Samir Ahmed Al-Hada, 25, along with three of his associates were surrounded by security forces at a house in a Sanaa suburb on 13 February. Al-Hada was reportedly killed while trying to escape during an exchange of fire, but his associates managed to get away. Following his death, authorities rounded up several members of Al-Hada's family in search of information on any accomplices who might have been involved in planning to carry out the feared 12 February terrorist attack in Yemen.
Al-Hada, 25, was a student at a religious school in Yemen allegedly controlled by extremists close to Bin Laden. He travelled to Afghanistan twice, returning before the 11 September attacks and used several forged identification cards to elude Yemeni intelligence.
According to security sources, Al-Hada appears to be in the thick of Al-Qa'eda terrorist dealings. The telephone line of the Al-Hada family was apparently used to contact suspected Al- Qa'eda terrorists who carried out the bombings at two US embassies in East Africa in 1998. The same phone, intelligence sources contend, was also used in coordinating the bombing of USS Cole in Aden harbour in October 2000, killing 17 US soldiers.
The connections to Al-Qa'eda abound in Al-Hada's extended family. Khaled Al-Mehdhar, named by US authorities as one of the hijackers on the US airliner that hit the Pentagon in Washington on 11 September, was married to Al-Hada's sister. And according to the 26 September weekly newspaper, which is close to the presidential office, Al-Hada was the brother-in-law of Moustafa Abdul-Qader Al-Ansari, who was listed among the group of 17 wanted terrorist suspects whose names were forwarded by the US to Yemeni authorities ahead of the expected attack on Tuesday, 12 February. It was revealed, however, that five of the suspects on the US list had already been detained by Yemeni authorities.
Tribal sources from Al-Hada's village in Dhamar province, 100 kilometres south of Sanaa, said that 15 people from his family and tribe were in police custody. Two of Al-Hada's brothers were killed in Afghanistan during the recent US military campaign, but local sources maintain that police are now looking for another of his brothers, Abdullah.
When it was revealed that Yemen already had five suspects in custody, the names were removed from a list issued by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Earlier last month, sources at the US embassy had said that the US handed Yemen a list including some 39 persons wanted by US authorities. But Yemeni authorities denied any knowledge of such a list, saying at the time that there were only two "wanted" suspects: Qaed Salem Al-Harithi (known as Abu Ali) and Mohamed Hamdi Al-Ahdal (known as Abu Assem). Last week, Yemeni authorities added two more: Al-Hada, who was killed in the raid on his hideout, and Fawaz Yahya Al-Rabeei. Al- Rabeei has been named by the FBI as the mastermind behind the suspected plans for a terrorist attack on 12 February.
Following the FBI alert, security measures were tightened around the US embassy and American companies working in Yemen. The threat coincided with a visit by General Tommy Franks, commander of the US military operations in Afghanistan. Franks met top officials in Sanaa, including President Saleh.
Increasing US pressure on Yemen to arrest suspected Al- Qa'eda terrorists has renewed fears of possible clashes between authorities and members of the powerful tribes that provide the extremists with protection. Last month 28 people, including 20 policemen, were killed in clashes between tribal and security forces in Mareb province, 180 kilometres east of Sanaa, during a hunt for two suspected members of Al- Qa'eda, Abu Assem and Abu Ali.
The whereabouts of the two are still unknown and armed forces remain deployed in the area where they are believed to be hiding. But official Yemeni sources have sought to downplay any security risks, saying that their policy right now is to intensify intelligence activity. The powerful use of force used last month led to numerous casualties and damage, but did not bear any fruit.
Meanwhile, the government has shut down the well-known religious school Al-Hadith Institute, which is suspected of having strong links with Al-Qa'eda. Yemeni authorities announced that some 101 foreign students who were receiving education there will be deported. They include Arabs as well as Americans and Britons.
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