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The trial of a man suspected of being the al-Qaeda number two in Yemen has begun in the capital, Sanaa. Saudi-born Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal is accused of killing 19 Yemeni security officers as well as financing al-Qaeda and helping an armed group. The trial comes shortly after 23 convicts, including members of al-Qaeda, escaped from prison in Sanaa. Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal was captured in 2003 by Yemeni security forces and his arrest was hailed by Yemeni and US officials as a major blow to al-Qaeda's operational capacity in Yemen. Yemeni security officials believe that al-Ahdal was working directly for the...

Heard in the background on a Fox News Alert.

SANAA (Reuters) - A Yemeni government official has confirmed that security forces have arrested a top al Qaeda operative, adding that he had survived a 2002 CIA attempt to kill him. On Wednesday, Yemeni security forces arrested a man believed to be a local leader of Osama bin Laden's network during a raid on suspected militant hideouts in a remote mountainous region. The official named the detainee as Abdul Raouf Nassib, also known as Abu Mihjim, and said he was a henchman of al Qaeda's Yemen leader Mohammed al-Ahdal, who was arrested last year. He said Nassib was with top...

SANAA, Jan 24 (Reuters) - A Yemeni Web site published on Saturday a statement purporting to come from the Yemeni wing of al Qaeda, in which it vowed to attack the United States to avenge the 2002 killing of its leader by a CIA drone aircraft. The statement, which could not be authenticated, said Osama bin Laden's network had over the past year prepared a "devastating and crushing blow in the United States that will happen soon". It would be in retaliation for the death of Ali al-Harthi, who was killed by a missile fired by the pilotless CIA drone...

Al-Qaida has launched a campaign designed to undermine the security and finances of the Saudi royal family. Western intelligence sources said the latest al-Qaida attacks indicate a campaign is underway to isolate the Saudi royal family and threaten its financial base. The campaign is based on intimidating leading Arab and Western advisers from remaining in the kingdom. The Nov. 9 attack on the Muhaya compound appeared to signal a shift in al-Qaida strategy. Until then, the sources said, al-Qaida targeted Western nationals in the kingdom who were not considered crucial to the regime's survival. But in the Muhaya suicide car...

<p>November 26, 2003 -- WASHINGTON - A suspected mastermind of the USS Cole bombing was arrested by security forces in Yemen, and officials say he could provide tips about ongoing terror plots on the Arabian Peninsula. "He's a big fish. He's a logistics guy in al Qaeda. He'll know about cell operations," a U.S. official said. "He's the most prominent al Qaeda facilitator in Yemen."</p>

SAN'A, Yemen — One of the top Al Qaeda members in Yemen was captured by security forces Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said, calling him a suspected mastermind of the homicide bombings of the USS Cole (search) and a French oil tanker off the country's coast.

<p>SAN'A, Yemen — Security forces on Tuesday arrested one of the top Al Qaeda members in Yemen, a suspected mastermind of the homicide bombings of the USS Cole (search) and a French oil tanker off the country's coast, the Interior Ministry said.</p> <p>Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal (search) was arrested after security forces surrounded his hide-out west of the capital, San`a, the ministry said in a statement carried on the official SABA news agency.</p>