American Involved?
A U.S. Citizen May Be Among Dead Al Qaeda Suspects in Yemen
By Mohammed Sudam
A D E N, Yemen, Nov. 7 — One of the six al Qaeda suspects killed in a car blast in Yemen over the weekend carried U.S. nationality and all were "dangerous" members of the extremist network, a Yemeni official said today.
The six were killed when their car exploded in the eastern Marib province on Sunday. Yemeni authorities refused to comment on the cause of the car blast — which according to U.S. officials was a rocket from an unmanned CIA drone.
One of the dead, Qaed Senyan al-Harthi, also known as Abu Ali, was a key suspect in the 2000 suicide bombing of the U.S. warship Cole in a Yemeni port that killed 17 U.S. sailors.
"Investigations by Yemeni authorities found that Harthi was accompanied by five dangerous members of the al Qaeda network who were not ordinary passengers," the official told Reuters.
He said that one of the six, identified by a government newspaper as Ahmed Hijazi, had U.S. nationality, but it was not clear if he was of Yemeni origin.
Involvement Reported in Cole Bombing
Yemeni authorities found personal documents, weapons and satellite telecommunication devices in the shattered car, the official said.
The government September 26 weekly newspaper said the group had taken part in "planning and executing acts of sabotage that harmed Yemeni national interests.
"The six were involved in the attack on the USS Cole in Aden [harbor] in 2000," the paper added.
Washington blames Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network for the Cole attack. The Saudi-born militant leader, whose ancestral home is Yemen, is also blamed for last year's Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
The September 26 weekly quoted an Interior Ministry official as saying that Yemeni coast guards will soon receive five boats from the United States to help patrol ports in a bid to prevent more attacks on Western ships.
A second batch of nine patrol boats will follow later, the official said, without giving details.
U.S. Military in Yemen
The impoverished Arab country has vowed its ports will open fire at boats approaching vessels without authorization in a bid to tighten security after an attack on French-flagged supertanker last month — almost exactly two years after the attack on the Cole.
U.S. military trainers were sent this year to advise Yemeni troops on catching al Qaeda fighters believed to be in hiding.
The September 26 paper said the United States would set up a coast guard operations room in Aden and would train some 160 Yemenis for that purpose.
Yemen, keen to shake off its image as a haven for Muslim militants, says it has detained 85 people in its hunt for suspected members of al Qaeda and other militant groups.
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