Yemen Judge Orders Arrest of Qaeda-Linked Cleric
By ROBERT F. WORTH
November 6, 2010
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BEIRUT, Lebanon — A Yemeni judge on Saturday ordered the “forcible arrest” of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born cleric who is believed to play an important role in the regional branch of Al Qaeda.
Mr. Awlaki, who is thought to be hiding among fellow tribesmen inYemen’s remote Shabwa Province, failed to appear Tuesday at a trial where he was accused of killing a foreigner. It is rare for a Yemeni judge to order the arrest of a defendant so soon after his failure to appear.Yemen has been under increased American pressure to act decisively against Al Qaeda since powerful explosives were discovered Oct. 29 in two separate packages being sent by air cargo to the United States. On Friday, Al Qaeda’s regional branch, known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, claimed responsibility for the plot in an Internet posting, confirming what American officials had suspected since the plot was discovered.
The United States took the unusual step this year of authorizing the killing of Mr. Awlaki, an American citizen. Mr. Awlaki, whose eloquent sermons on Islam have long been available on tapes and on the Internet, has been the subject of intense American scrutiny since he was linked to Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people in Fort Hood, Tex., last year, and to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian charged with trying to blow up a Detroit-bound jetliner last Dec. 25.
Mr. Awlaki has called for violent jihad against the West. He is thought to play primarily an inspirational role in Al Qaeda, and it is not yet clear whether he had anything to do with the air freight plot.
On Tuesday, Mr. Awlaki was charged in absentia as a co-defendant at the trial of another man, Hisham Assem, who is accused of killing a Frenchman at an oil compound in September. Mr. Assem has denied those charges. Prosecutors have said Mr. Assem was in contact with Mr. Awlaki. (the new york times)
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SANAA, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni Prime Minister Ali Muhammed al- Mujawar said Saturday that al-Qaida was originally a Western-made group and was never created by his country, the state-run Saba news agency reported. The prime minister's remarks were made during a meeting in the capital Sanaa with ambassadors of Asian and African countries to Yemen to clarify Yemen's stance against those who propagated negative impacts on Yemen over the bomb parcels shipped to the United States last week. "Al-Qaida was essentially a Western-made group and was never created by Yemen, it is alleged by those who seek to propagate this view internationally about Yemen," Saba quoted Mujawar as saying. The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) on Friday claimed responsibility for the bomb parcels that targeted the United States. It also said it was behind downing a UPS cargo plane by exploding one of its experimental bomb packages aboard the plane immediately after it took off from Dubai International Airport on Sep. 3, 2010. According to Saba, Mujawar called on the international community to support his government's continuing efforts to fight al-Qaida regional wing. Yemen has been exerting efforts to curb terrorist groups, which raised international security concerns again after two parcel bombs were found on U.S.-bound cargo flights from the Arabian peninsula country last week. ========================================================== |
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