Intel Thwarted Attack on U.K. Embassy
Friday, December 12, 2003
LONDON — Yemeni intelligence thwarted an Al Qaeda-linked bomb attack on the British Embassy in Yemen's capital in September, according to a news report Friday.
A team of 20 militants linked to Al Qaeda had videotaped the area around the embassy in Sana'a looking for weak points before Yemeni intelligence officials caught them three months ago, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported.
The militants confessed to plotting to blow up the embassy, the BBC reported, and security officials said the militants were receiving instructions from Al Qaeda operatives in Iran.
The team had planned to drive a truck bomb through the embassy gates, but "thanks to improvements in Yemeni intelligence, plans were thwarted before the would-be bombers could get their hands on explosives," according to the BBC.
Britain's Ambassador to Yemen Frances Guy, asked how serious she thought the threat to blow up the embassy was, told the BBC, "I think it was very serious, as ... other plots also have been, previous to that. We are very conscious that we are a high-priority target here in Yemen."
The Foreign Office was not available for comment late Friday, but it regularly refuses to discuss individual security issues.
Less than a month ago, suicide truck-bomb attacks destroyed the British consulate in Istanbul and badly damaged a London-based bank. At least 30 people were killed, including British consul-general Roger Short.
In October, the arrests of at least 10 members of a suspected Al Qaeda cell were reported.
On Sept. 28, Yemeni Interior Minister Rashad al-Eleimi met the U.S., British, German, French, Italian and Spanish ambassadors to share intelligence and ask them to warn their citizens about possible attacks.
Yemen, on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, has been a target for suicide bombings and other attacks in the past three years and is the ancestral home of Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden. Militants killed 17 people after attacking the USS Cole, kidnapped Western tourists and killed American missionaries at a hospital.
The government in Yemen joined the U.S.-led war on terror after the Sept. 11 attacks, cracking down on Islamic extremists and allowing the FBI to open an office there.
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