Posted on 08/22/2003 10:04:15 AM PDT by Coop
Aug. 22— The United States State Department has updated its travel warning to Americans in Yemen, citing the continued threat there posed by al Qaeda.
"The security threat to all U.S. citizens in Yemen remains high due to continuing efforts by al Qaeda to reconstitute an effective operating base. This could lead to possible attacks by extremist individuals or groups against U.S. citizens, facilities, businesses and perceived interests," the travel warning, released Wednesday, stated.
The alert is related to the recent arrest in Kuwait of two men suspected of being important al Qaeda financiers in the Gulf region, Mohsen al-Fadli and Adel Buhaimed, intelligence sources told ABCNEWS.
Sources said the travel patterns of the two men indicate that they played a significant role in both the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole that killed 17 U.S. sailors, and the May 12 attack on three residential compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where 34 people died, including eight Americans.
Al-Fadli and Buhaimed were considered key fund-raisers and some analysts believe they were touring the region before their arrest, collecting finances for an al Qaeda operative named Mohammed Hamdi Al-Ahdal, European intelligence sources told ABCNEWS. These sources say Al-Ahdal was actively planning more operations in Yemen along the lines of the attack on the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia on Aug. 5.
Knocked Down, But Not Out
The U.S. dealt a major blow to al Qaeda's Yemeni network last November when the CIA successfully fired two Hellfire missiles from an unmanned Predator drone onto a convoy of key leaders driving in the desert, killing the chief liaison to Yemeni operations, Abu Al-Harithi, also known as Abu Ali.
But Al-Ahdal, Al-Harithi's former aide, was not in that convoy and has since taken over as al Qaeda's director of operations in Yemen, military sources told ABCNEWS. Al-Ahdal is considered to be well equipped with weapons, money and communication devices needed to coordinate new attacks.
European intelligence sources said Al-Ahdal is linked to the two detainees, Al-Fadli and Buhaimed, making their arrest a valuable potential resource for investigators to learn of Al-Ahdal's latest plans.
Yemen has not ceased being a hotbed for al Qaeda activity since the attack on the USS Cole on Oct. 12, 2000. In 2002, terrorists again slammed an explosive-laden vessel into a French oil tanker, The Limburg, and counterterrorism investigations have thwarted several other plots in the country.
One of the biggest concerns is the porous Eastern border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, named "Empty Quarter" desert, through which terrorists have been known to smuggle cash, weapons and explosives. Investigators believe the attackers of the Riyadh compounds received their ammunition via that border, according to several Arab news reports.
ABCNEWS' Adi Raval contributed to this report.
European intelligence sources said Al-Ahdal is linked to the two detainees, Al-Fadli and Buhaimed, making their arrest a valuable potential resource for investigators to learn of Al-Ahdal's latest plans.
Wouldn't it be nice to be enjoying a steaming cup of coffee tomorrow morning, and see news of his capture scroll across the bottom of the TV screen?
Hey, it could happen! :-)
Thank you for protecting our freedom and keeping me and my family safe. Keep your head down and your rear covered!
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