Threats from Yemeni extremists heating up?

[KRonn]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/29/radical-imam-tied-plots-gone-operational-yemen/

Radical Imam Tied to Terror Plots Has Gone 'Operational' in Yemen

The radical Yemeni-based cleric connected to two violent plots in the U.S. has "gone operational," a senior U.S. official told Fox News, suggesting Anwar al-Awlaki is becoming an increasingly significant figure in Arabian Peninsula terror networks.

Al-Awlaki was thought to have been killed in an air strike by Yemeni forces last week, but that is now unconfirmed. The senior U.S. official told Fox News that the cleric, an American citizen now living in Yemen, had previously been devoted to "propaganda and spiritual guidance," but went operational in the past year.

The volatility of the region has also raised major concerns over the Obama administration's move to release Guantanamo Bay detainees there. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- a network led by two former Guantanamo detainees -- claimed responsibility on Monday for the attempted bombing on Christmas Day of a Northwest Airlines flight headed to Detroit.

So far no evidence has been revealed that the suspect in the Northwest attempt, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, exchanged e-mails or talked one-on-one with al-Awlaki. But collected evidence shows that the suspect was a "big fan" of al-Awlaki, and Web traffic shows Abdulmutallab was a follower of his blog and Web site.

Al-Awlaki, the imam from whom alleged Fort Hood shooter Malik Nidal Hasan sought religious advice, is in the heart of a region that is becoming increasingly volatile. The senior U.S. official told Fox News that the Arabian Peninsula terror network has branched out beyond Yemen and Saudi Arabia and has shown "intent to hit Western targets and the homeland."

The instability of the region is reviving criticism of the Obama administration's plans to transfer some Guantanamo detainees to Yemen, which has an abysmal record of keeping detainees in prison.

All the suspects convicted of being involved in the 2000 attack on the USS Cole have either been released by Yemeni authorities or managed to escape in a 2008 jailbreak.

The two Al Qaeda leaders in question with the Arabian Peninsula network reportedly were released to Saudi Arabia from Guantanamo in 2007 and were then set free after completing a controversial "rehabilitation program."

As Saudi Arabia is considered by some to be an alternative destination for terror suspects who would otherwise go to Yemen, the options may continue to narrow for where to send detainees the administration does not want to keep in U.S. custody.

"Some of these people were deemed not dangerous when in fact they were," said Danny Gonzalez, spokesman for pro-military organization Move America Forward, which urged Obama to put a moratorium on transferring detainees pending a full review.

Sources said Abdulmutallab traveled to Yemen before the alleged bomb attempt and may have been "vetted for the mission" and supplied with explosive material while there.

Fox News' Catherine Herridge contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/29/sending-detainees-radical-hotbed-yemen/

Updated December 29, 2009
Rep Urges U.S. to Stop Sending Guantanamo Detainees to Yemen


As hundreds of Al Qaeda militants in Yemen are said to be planning terror attacks against the West, a U.S. lawmaker has called on the Obama administration to halt immediately the release of Guantanamo detainees to the Middle Eastern country.

Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., wrote to President Obama Tuesday requesting that the administration not send any more Guantanamo detainees back to Yemen or any other unstable country. Wolf, who has penned four similar letters since Oct. 1, said he also would ask that threat assessments be made public for each detainee who is cleared for release.

"I'm troubled by every [detainee] that I've read about," Wolf told FoxNews.com. "I personally would have sent none of them back to Yemen. These guys are some of the most dangerous; they've been involved in activities with direct threats to the United States....

"Don't send them back to Yemen, particularly based on what happened on Christmas," he said. "It's dangerous to the country."

Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, Yemen's Foreign Minister, told the Times of London on Tuesday that Yemeni authorities are aware of Al Qaeda operatives in the country, including some leaders.

"They may actually plan attacks like the one we have just had in Detroit," he told the paper. "There are maybe hundreds of them -- 200, 300."

Al-Qirbi's comments came one day after Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the failed attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the suspect in the bombing attempt, spent time in Yemen with Al Qaeda and was in the country only days before the attempted attack.

Just five days earlier, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the transfer of 12 Guantanamo detainees to Afghanistan, Yemen and the Somaliland region. The six detainees released to Yemen were identified as: Jamal Muhammad Alawi Mari, Farouq Ali Ahmed, Ayman Saeed Abdullah Batarfi, Muhammaed Yasir Ahmed Taher, Fayad Yahya Ahmed al Rami, and Riyad Atiq Ali Abdu al Haf.

Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, said 14 Guantanamo Bay detainees were transferred to Yemen during the Bush administration and seven others had been released to the country since Obama took office.

"The U.S. Government would not have proceeded with these transfers if there were security-related concerns that were not adequately addressed," Boyd wrote in an e-mail to FoxNews.com. "The transfers were carried out under individual arrangements between the United States and the Government of Yemen to ensure the transfers took place under appropriate security measures."

Meanwhile, a Yemeni Al Qaeda faction -- whose masterminds were released from Guantanamo Bay -- claimed responsibility for orchestrating the Christmas Day terror attempt.

Said Ali al Shihri and Muhammad al Awfi were captured in Afghanistan in late 2001, ABC News reported, and were  freed from Guantanamo in November 2007. They promptly began conspiring against the United States after completing an "art-rehabilitation" therapy in Saudi Arabia as a condition of their release.

"The so-called rehabilitation programs are a joke," a U.S. diplomat told ABC.

Al Shihri and Al Awfi reportedly belong to the group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is led by Usama bin Laden's former personal secretary. The group, known as AQAP, posted a statement on its Voice of Jihad Web site boasting it had overcome the sophisticated U.S. security and intelligence.

Al Awfi reportedly turned himself into Yemeni authorities in February, and al Shihri may have been killed in one of two recent attacks on Al Qaeda strongholds.

Kirk Lippold, former USS Cole commander and senior military fellow at Military Families United (MFU), said reports that the former detainees worked with Abdulmatallab is the "clearest indication" yet that continual release of Guantanamo Bay detainees is an unacceptable risk to Americans.

"As a nation, we cannot rely on so-called 'reform camps' in places like Saudi Arabia to prevent terrorists from striking again," Lippold said in a statement. "The President promised the victims of terrorism and the American people a clear strategy for how he intended to fight terrorism and deal with detainees in [Guantanamo]. Almost a year into his term, neither objective is close to being achieved."

Lippold called on administration officials not to release any additional detainees from Guantanamo.

"The President's strategy of increasing risk to American lives as part of some indescribable national security strategy to defeat Al Qaeda must be refocused," the statement continued. "The Administration's position on [Guantanamo Bay] is the centerpiece of this perilous strategy."

Here's a closer look at the six detainees recently released to Yemen:

Jamal Muhammad Alawi Mari

Apprehended during a raid of his home in Karachi, Pakistan, on Sept. 23, 2001, Mari admitted he was a director of the Baku, the Azerbaijan branch of the Al Haramayn, a non-governmental organization with known Al Qaeda connections. According to Department of Defense documents, Mari admitted traveling to Afghanistan in May 2001 to work as a director for Al Wafa, also a non-governmental organization with known ties to Al Qaeda. He was transferred to his native Yemen on Dec. 19.

Farouq Ali Ahmed

Ahmed, 26, was captured by Pakistani forces as part of an organized group of 30 Mujahideen after the fall of Tora Bora near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in December 2001. Ahmed traveled from Yemen to Afghanistan in March 2001 and was observed carrying an AK-47 while wearing fatigues near Usama bin Laden's private airport in Kandahar, Afghanistan, according to Department of Defense documents.

Dr. Ayman Saeed Abdullah Batarfi

Captured in Afghanistan in January 2002, Batarfi, 39, had been detained for seven years prior to his release this month. Batarfi, who once practiced medicine in Afghanistan, had previously been accused by the Bush administration of taking part in Al Qaeda's anthrax program. U.S. officials later backed off that accusation but continued to allege in Combatant Status Review Tribunal documents that Batarfi had once worked for a charity that had terrorist ties and that he personally met with Usama bin Laden in Tora Bora in November 2001.

Muhammaed Yasir Ahmed Taher

Taher, 29, was captured in Pakistan in March 2002. According to court documents, he stated that he was a terrorist and traveled to Yemen from Pakistan in September 2001 in association with the Jama'at al-Tablighi, a Pakistan-based Islamic missionary organization used as cover to mask travel and terrorism activities of Al Qaeda members. A senior Al Qaeda lieutenant once recognized Taher in a photograph, court documents say. He is the younger brother of Salah al Salami, a Guantanamo Bay detainee found dead in his cell in June 2006.

Fayad Yahya Ahmed al Rami

Al Rami -- believed to be in his early 30s -- was captured in Pakistan in March 2002. According to court documents, Rami was recruited by a member of Jama'at al-Tabligh and had traveled to Pakistan from Yemen prior to Sept. 11, 2001.

Riyad Atiq Ali Abdu al Haf

Al Haf -- also listed in court documents as Riyad Atiq Abdu al Haj -- was captured near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in late 2001. He was previously determined to be a Taliban supporter -- possibly a courier or recruiter -- and admitted that he agreed to serve the Taliban, according to Department of Defense documents. After voluntarily traveling to Afghanistan from Yemen, al Haf was apprehended in a car by a group of Taliban associates and driven to Kandahar, Afghanistan, where he stayed in a Taliban guest house for up to 3 weeks. Al Haf was also believed to have participated in military operations against coalition forces.

[viper37]

I think it's more media panic than anything else, following the failed attack on the Northwest plane.

[Fate]

I can see it now... 2013... President Palin on the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan standing in front of a banner saying "Mission Accomplished: Yemen."

[Sheilbh]

I think it's more media panic than anything else, following the failed attack on the Northwest plane.

It's been building for a while - I believe the Saudis have suffered 500 casualties this year alone in their intervention in the religious civil war (in which the US has allegedly provided support for the government).  I believe Lieberman's recently suggested that unless pre-emptive action is taken Yemen will be tomorrow's war. 

[Crazy_Ivan80]

't would be handy if the saudi tards stopped funding their nazi-party chapters... I mean, wahabbi/salafist mosques all over the world.

[KRonn]

Yemen is taking some action. But I wouldn't expect too much from a weak government, and since I'm assuming many people side with the extremist types, including govt officials.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,581467,00.html

Yemeni Forces Storm Al Qaeda Hide-Out, Setting Off Clashes



SAN'A, Yemen —  Yemeni security forces stormed an Al Qaeda hide-out Wednesday in a principle militant stronghold in the country's west, setting off clashes, officials said, as a security chief vowed to fight the group's powerful local branch until it was eliminated.

A government statement said at least one suspected Al Qaeda member was arrested during the fighting in Hudaydah province. The province, along Yemen's Red Sea coast, was home to most of the assailants in a bombing and shooting attack outside the U.S. Embassy in 2008 that killed 10 Yemeni guards and four civilians.

"The (Interior) Ministry will continue tracking down Al Qaeda terrorists and will continue its strikes against the group until it is totally eliminated," said Deputy Interior Minister Brig. Gen. Saleh al-Zawari.

He was speaking to senior military officials at a meeting in Mareb, one of three provinces where Al Qaeda militants are believed to have taken shelter.

The group's growing presence in Yemen, an impoverished and lawless country on the edge of the Arabian Peninsula, has drawn attention with the attempted attack on a U.S. airliner on Friday. U.S. investigators say the Nigerian suspect in the attack told them that he received training and instructions from Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula set up its Yemen base in January when operatives from Saudi Arabia and Yemen merged.

A security official who gave more details on Wednesday's raid said it resulted from a tip and targeted a home five miles (eight kilometers) north of the Bajil district. He said one suspected Al Qaeda member was injured and several who fled were being pursued.

The owner of the home, a sympathizer of the group, was arrested, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Yemen will continue to coordinate its military efforts with the United States to track down Al Qaeda in several areas of the country, said Tarek al-Shami, spokesman of the ruling National Congress Party.

The U.S. has increasingly provided intelligence, surveillance and training to Yemeni forces during the past year, and has provided some firepower, a senior U.S. defense official said recently, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive security issues. Some of that assistance may be through the expanded use of unmanned drones, and the U.S. is providing funding to Yemen for helicopters and other equipment.

The Pentagon recently said it poured nearly $70 million in military aid into Yemen this year — compared with none in 2008.

More details surfaced Wednesday on the Nigerian man suspected in Friday's attempted airliner attack. While in Yemen, he led a devout Islamic life, shunning TV and music and avoiding women, said students and staff at an institute where he studied Arabic.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab spent two periods in Yemen, from 2004-2005 and from August to December of this year, just before the attempted attack, Yemeni officials have said. Administrators at the institute said Wednesday he was enrolled at the school during both periods to study Arabic.

Abdulmutallab showed little interest in study during his brief time at the San'a Institute for the Arabic Language this year, which coincided with Ramadan, the holy Muslim month of fasting that began in late August.

"When I asked him why he wasn't studying, he would tell me he wanted to devote his time for worship during Ramadan," Ahmed Hassan, a 28-year-old Arabic language student from Singapore, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Hassan said he was stunned when he heard reports that Abdulmutallab, 23, told U.S. officials after his arrest he received training and instructions from Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen. He said he never suspected the Nigerian of belonging to the terrorist network.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for the attempted attack on the airliner, which was bound for Detroit from Amsterdam. It said it was retaliation for a U.S. operation against the group in Yemen. More than 60 militants were killed in airstrikes this month carried out by Yemeni forces with U.S. intelligence assistance.

Yemen issued Abdulmutallab a visa to study Arabic. Yemeni officials have said authorities in Yemen were reassured that he had visas from a number of countries engaged in the fight against terrorism, including the United States.

Staff and students at the institute said Abdulmutallab spent at most one month at the school. That has raised questions about what he did during the rest of his stay, which continued into December.

While in Yemen, Abdulmutallab led the life of an ultraconservative Muslim. He avoided mixing with female classmates, listening to music or watching television, fellow students and staff at the institute said.

Hassan said Abdulmutallab would start his day by going to the mosque for dawn prayers and then would spend hours in his room reading the Koran, Islam's holy book.

Ahmed Mohammed, one of the teachers at the institute, said Abdulmutallab spent the last 10 days of the holy month of Ramadan sequestered in a mosque.

He says Abdulmutallab attended barely four hours of the 20-hour course Ahmed taught.

Youssef al-Khawlani, an administrator at the institute, recalled how upset Abdulmutallab was when he heard the ring tone of his phone, set to a popular song.

"When he heard it, he told me I should stop it because it was haram (forbidden by Islam)," said al-Khawlani. "He also would not watch TV."

[Sheilbh]

Yemen is taking some action. But I wouldn't expect too much from a weak government, and since I'm assuming many people side with the extremist types, including govt officials.

To be honest Yemen's a horrible situation.  My understanding is that the Saudis started spending lots of money during Yemen's civil war in the 90s.  As the almost inevitable consequence the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam and figures who adhere to it gained a lot of strength.  These Saudi backed Wahhabis started seriously discriminating against Yemen's Shia minority (though it's a large minority and this form of Shia Islam is closer to Sunni Islam than it is to say, Iranian Shiism) and systematically removing them from positions of power and influence.

The Shia then revolt under the command of Hussein al-Houthi who attacked Yemen's new predominately hard line Sunni leadership and Yemen's relative closeness with the US and Saudi Arabia.  The Houthis are alleged to have picked up support from the Iranians and, especially, Hezbollah while the Saudis and Yemeni government are accused of having supported al-Qaeda training camps etc for use against the Houthis - much like Iran backed the Northern Alliance and Pakistan the Taliban in Afghanistan.

In short, from a Western perspective I think you've got about every big problem in the Middle East condensed into one country.  The Saudis are there bankrolling Sunni radicalisation, the Iranians are there supporting the Shia resurgence, both are allegedly supporting insurgent or outright terrorist groups against the other while over it all presides a corrupt and incompetent government.

This is a story al-Jazeera have been covering for a while.  Apparently the Arab media in general is interested in Yemen, I think because it contains the big sort of regional power clash (Saudis vs Iranians) and taps into current worries throughout the Arab world.  Whether it's the rising influence of Shia minorities (though I believe the Yemeni monarchy used to be Shia so this is a re-rising) or growing radical Sunni terrorist groups the Yemen's got it.

[KRonn]

What a mess Yemen is. Probably getting a lot of cash from the US, which is probably what's causing their govt to try and take action vs AQ, or similar groups. But if the Saudis get in strong, and with the Wahabis, there really wouldn't be much difference, except maybe, eventually, a more stable country but radicalized differently.

[Sheilbh]

What a mess Yemen is. Probably getting a lot of cash from the US, which is probably what's causing their govt to try and take action vs AQ, or similar groups. But if the Saudis get in strong, and with the Wahabis, there really wouldn't be much difference, except maybe, eventually, a more stable country but radicalized differently.

My worry is that Yemen's pulling a Pakistan.  They got $80 million this year (none last year or I believe in recent years) which is, of course, worth the price if it leads to fighting al-Qaeda.  But I worry that the Yemenis are saying 'of course we'll fight al-Qaeda' while that money's going to go to the (from a Western perspective) far less important fight against the Houthis.  In much the same way as Pakistan's essential support in the War on Terror was overwhelmingly focused on Kashmir.

[KRonn]

What a mess Yemen is. Probably getting a lot of cash from the US, which is probably what's causing their govt to try and take action vs AQ, or similar groups. But if the Saudis get in strong, and with the Wahabis, there really wouldn't be much difference, except maybe, eventually, a more stable country but radicalized differently.

My worry is that Yemen's pulling a Pakistan.  They got $80 million this year (none last year or I believe in recent years) which is, of course, worth the price if it leads to fighting al-Qaeda.  But I worry that the Yemenis are saying 'of course we'll fight al-Qaeda' while that money's going to go to the (from a Western perspective) far less important fight against the Houthis.  In much the same way as Pakistan's essential support in the War on Terror was overwhelmingly focused on Kashmir.

I take that as the Yemeni govt taking sides while it's convenient and profitable to oppose a group they don't want to work with anyway, while another just as unsavory group gains, but one that the Yemeni govt might be more amenable to working with.

[AnchorClanker]

Um.... USS Cole?  2000?  Aden?  Yemen?  This isn't breaking news, folks.

[Razgovory]

They were better off as communists.

[Sheilbh]

They were better off as communists.

All the Arab world were better off communisming or pan-Arab socialising.  But they're the Gods that failed which is part of the appeal of the new ones.  Personally I think Yemen was better off with a Zaydi monarchy, but that's just me.

I take that as the Yemeni govt taking sides while it's convenient and profitable to oppose a group they don't want to work with anyway, while another just as unsavory group gains, but one that the Yemeni govt might be more amenable to working with.

Yeah.  My worry is that given their history and the allegations about them the Yemenis may prefer to work with al-Qaeda to quell the Shia revolt.

[Sheilbh]

Um.... USS Cole?  2000?  Aden?  Yemen?  This isn't breaking news, folks.

True enough.  And, as I say, the Yemeni war has been receiving heavy coverage on English al-Jazeera for some time.  I imagine in the Arab world it's even more closely followed.

[Razgovory]

They were better off as communists.

All the Arab world were better off communisming or pan-Arab socialising.  But they're the Gods that failed which is part of the appeal of the new ones.  Personally I think Yemen was better off with a Zaydi monarchy, but that's just me.

I wonder what they'll try when the current trend of Islamic fundamentalism.  Whatever it is I imagine it'll also suck and they'll blow shit up over it.