Yemeni-American Killed by CIA Strike in Yemen Linked to Alleged N.Y. Terror Cell, Official Says
By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
WASHINGTON (AP) _ A Yemeni-American killed in a CIA airstrike in Yemen has links to alleged members of the al-Qaida cell in suburban Buffalo, N.Y., that was raided by U.S. authorities in September, a U.S. government official said Friday.
The man, identified by Yemeni officials as Ahmed Hijazi, is a U.S. citizen, 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.
On Sunday, 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. Hijazi and four non-Americans, all described as al-Qaida operatives, were traveling with him.
Al-Harethi, one of al-Qaida's most senior operatives, was the apparent target of the strike. It is unclear whether the CIA knew the identities of all of his companions in the car when it fired the missile.
The strike on al-Harethi was conducted under a wide-ranging directive by President Bush allowing the CIA to pursue al-Qaida operatives worldwide. The agency has declined comment on the strike.
The CIA's mission is gather information on foreigners, particularly threats to national security, and conduct covert action at the direction of the president. It is highly restricted from gathering intelligence on Americans and operating inside of the United States.
The attack has drawn criticism from human rights circles. On Friday, Amnesty International sent letters to U.S. and Yemeni officials seeking information on the attacks. 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.
Hijazi's precise links to the Buffalo cell were not made clear. Yemeni officials believe Hijazi was a pseudonym, and his real name was not known.
Two alleged members of the Buffalo cell, leader Kamal Derwish and Jaber Elbaneh, were at large in Yemen, according to U.S. officials. Officials would not rule out whether Hijazi was one of these two.
Six more alleged members of the cell, all Americans of Yemeni descent, were arrested just days after the Sept. 11 anniversary. Five were taken in raids in Lackawanna, N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo; a sixth was captured in Bahrain and brought to the United States. FBI agents, acting in part on CIA information, conducted the investigation that led to the arrests.
Last month, the six pleaded innocent to charges they trained at an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan, after a federal jury charged them on two counts of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
The charges carry a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
Authorities said the charges are largely based on allegations that in spring 2001 they attended the terror camp, where bin Laden declared that there "is going to be a fight against Americans."
Prosecutors said the men formed a sleeper cell, awaiting orders to carry out an attack in the United States. However, prosecutors acknowledged there was no evidence the men posed an imminent threat.
Only one of the men, Sahim Alwan, 29, was granted bail. He is awaiting release on 0,000. The five others _ Yahya Goba, 25; Yasein Taher, 25; Faysal Galab, 26; Shafal Mosed, 24; and Mukhtar al-Bakri, 22 _ are being held without bail.
Associated Press writer John Solomon contributed to this report.
thetimesonline.com
US Citizen Killed in Yemen Tied to NY Terror Case
Reuters
WASHINGTON - The U.S. citizen killed in a missile strike in Yemen this week was the ringleader of an alleged terror cell in Lackawanna, New York, linked to al Qaeda, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing administration officials.
The man, identified as Kamal Derwish but also known by the alias Ahmed Hijazi, was killed on Sunday along with five others when the car they were traveling in was destroyed by a missile fired by an unmanned drone operated by the CIA.
The principal target of the attack, senior al Qaeda leader Qaed Senyan al-Harthi, was a key suspect in the bombing of the American warship USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden in 2000, which killed 17 sailors.
Derwish was not initially known to have been in the destroyed vehicle, but the CIA was aware he had returned to Yemen and described him as a "fellow traveler" in a tight circle of terror suspects atop the United States' unofficial most-wanted list, the newspaper reported.
Both the State Department and the FBI declined to comment on the report on Saturday.
Derwish allegedly recruited six men from Lackawanna, near Buffalo, New York, who were arrested and indicted in September for supporting al Qaeda by attending a camp in Afghanistan last year, the report said. The six have all pleaded innocent. Five of them are being held in jail.
Derwish, whom U.S. authorities viewed as an unindicted co-conspirator, was born in Buffalo and spent several years in the area, the Post said.
He moved with his parents to Saudi Arabia and later to Yemen after his father died. He returned to the United States in the 1990s and neighbors said he spoke of a desire to fight with the Taliban in Afghanistan, the paper said.
The Taliban were toppled last year by a U.S.-led coalition for providing shelter to al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, accused by Washington of masterminding attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001.
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