CIA attack in Yemen could be done in Southeast Asia

Associated Press ^ | 11-9-02

[Oldeconomybuyer]

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - A secret CIA missile strike that killed six suspected al-Qaida operatives in Yemen last week was legal and appropriate, a U.S. official said Saturday, suggesting such covert attacks could be used against terrorists in Southeast Asia.

The attack in Yemen, conducted under a wide-ranging directive by U.S. President George W. Bush allowing the CIA to pursue al-Qaida operatives worldwide, has raised human rights concerns.

An Amnesty International spokesman in Washington said Thursday that the U.S. attack violates international treaties prohibiting summary executions done without the due process of law.

Bush administration officials have said it was a legitimate wartime operation against a known enemy.

Asked at a news conference in Manila whether such a covert strike could be done in Southeast Asia against suspected terrorists, Ambassador Francis X. Taylor, Washington's coordinator for counterterrorism and one of the first U.S. officials to openly defend the controversial attack, suggested it was an option.

Bush has asked countries joining the U.S.-led global war on terrorism "to put all kinds of power together to take this threat on and to use what is appropriate given the nature of the threat we face,'' Taylor said, calling the Yemen airstrike a "military option.''

"We will use whatever is necessary and legal to attack this threat, to interdict it and to eliminate it,'' he said.

When asked if the attack in Yemen was legal and necessary, Taylor replied, "Sure, the answer is yes. Both a legal and appropriate tool, given the circumstances.''

Taylor declined to divulge details of future operations but said "the right tool'' must be used "for the right time to get the results that we're looking for.''

He added terrorists were assessing counterterrorist strategies worldwide and changing their tactics accordingly.

"The threat has mutated,'' he said. A CIA Predator drone aircraft near Marib, Yemen, fired a missile at a car carrying Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, al-Qaida's chief operative in Yemen and a suspect in a number of terrorist strikes.

Al-Harethi and five other suspected al-Qaida operatives, including an American-Yemeni identified as Ahmed Hijazi, were killed, U.S. and Yemeni officials said on condition of anonymity.

The apparent killing of a U.S. citizen, even an alleged terrorist killed collaterally, threatens to draw the CIA into murky waters.

The agency is conducting a massive, largely hidden effort to catch and kill al-Qaida members as a part of the war on terrorism.

Prior to visiting Manila, where Taylor is attending an international conference on terrorism, he held talks with anti-terrorist officials in Australia, Singapore and Indonesia.

Taylor praised Southeast Asian governments for committing to battle terrorism but added there was a lot more work to be done.

"Are we satisfied that we're there? Absolutely not. We got a lot of work to do but that does not mean the commitment isn't there to do that work,'' he said. - AP

[Oldeconomybuyer]

A television grab shows a Yemeni man inspecting the remains of a vehicle after an attack, said to have been launched by an unmanned U.S. aircraft, which killed six alleged members of Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al Qaeda network, November 4, 2002 in Yemen. U.S. officials said that a Central Intelligence Agency (news - web sites) drone carried out the Nov. 3 attack on a car carrying the six men which Yemen said included one of two key suspects sought as leading al Qaeda operatives in the Arab country. Photo by Middle East Broadcasting Company/Reuters - Nov 05 3:35 PM ET

[karlamayne]

Southeast Asia?

Deja vu all over again?

[cardinal4]

Im surprised that obvious has yet to be stated in the press; the fact that a CIA employee pulled the trigger. Ill bet CIA officers found these guys, followed them and when they had a clear shot,called it in. I wonder if the military was involved at all? I have no problem at all with properly trained and motivated civilians taking warshots at the enemy. Thank God someone removed Clintons training wheels from the intelligence services.