Yemen captures key Qaeda chief as embassies reopen

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Yemen captures key Qaeda chief as embassies reopen

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1 hour, 23 minutes ago

SANAA (AFP) - Yemeni security forces Wednesday captured a key Al-Qaeda leader

and two other militants believed behind threats against Western interests in

Sanaa which prompted embassies to bolt their doors, police said.

The arrest of Mohammed al-Hanq and the two other suspected extremists at a

hospital in Raydah, north of capital, came as Yemen's authorities said Al-Qaeda

jihadists were being choked countrywide and forced into " holes. "

Hanq had evaded arrest on Monday during a security force raid in Arhab, 40

kilometres (25 miles) north of Sanaa, in which two of his relatives were killed

and three other people wounded.

A security official told AFP security forces had Wednesday morning swooped on a

hospital in Raydah, 80 kilometres (50 miles), north of Sanaa in Amran province,

where the suspects were receiving treatment.

" Mohammed al-Hanq and two others who were wounded were captured in a hospital in

Amran, " the official said.

Four men who had transported the wounded to the hospital and hid them from

police were also taken into custody, the defence ministry-linked news website

26Sep.net said.

Two other Al-Qaeda suspects meanwhile turned themselves in to the authorities in

the region of Marib, east of Sanaa, on Wednesday, and a third surrendered in

Arhab, a security official said.

The interior ministry said Wednesday its security forces were repeatedly raiding

hideouts of " terrorist elements " in several provinces and had turned their

" fight against terrorism into a daily confrontation. "

" (Security operations) are not leaving the terrorist elements the chance to take

a breath or reorganise their lines, " the ministry said in a statement on its

website.

" Al-Qaeda elements are no longer the ones taking the initiative in deciding the

time and place of confrontations, " it said, adding that " painful and recurring

strikes have forced Al-Qaeda to retreat to the holes. "

The US embassy closed on Sunday over security concerns prompted by fears of an

Al-Qaeda threat against foreign interests just days after a failed attack on a

US airliner claimed by the Al-Qaeda franchise in Yemen.

Some countries, including Britain and France, followed suit while others

curtailed consular operations as security was tightened around their missions.

The US embassy reopened for business on Tuesday, saying that Yemeni security

forces had addressed a " specific area of concern " the previous day.

" Successful counter-terrorism operations conducted by the government of Yemen

security forces January 4 north of the capital have addressed a specific area of

concern, and have contributed to the embassy?s decision to resume operations, "

the embassy said in a statement which is widely believed to be a reference to

the threat posed by the cell headed by Hanq.

The British and French embassies have also resumed operations, although the

British mission's consular services remained shut on Wednesday.

Long-standing concerns that Yemen, a country on the southern tip of the Arabian

peninsula, has become a haven for Islamic terror groups were thrown into sharp

focus when a Nigerian man allegedly trained in Yemen was charged with trying to

blow up a US-bound jet.

The botched Christmas Day attack was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian

Peninsula (AQAP), which also urged attacks on Western interests in Yemen.

The would-be bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, reportedly confessed to

being trained by an Al-Qaeda bombmaker in Yemen for the suicide mission on the

Northwest flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Related article: Known movements of

the would-be bomber.

Explosives allegedly sewn into the man's underwear failed to detonate, and

passengers jumped on him.

Yemeni authorities were investigating how Abdulmutallab managed to easily leave

the country, where he was official studying Arabic language, although his visa

had expired, an official said on Wednesday.

" Authorities are investigating with police officers at the airport to find out

how he managed to leave the country although his permit to stay had expired, "

the official told AFP requesting anonymity.

Abdulmutallab had left Yemen on December 7 although he was scheduled to leave on

September 24, when his visa expired. His whereabouts during that period remained

unknown, he said.