2 al-Qaeda suspects killed [Archives:2002/39/Front Page]

archive
September 23 2002

The Yemeni security authorities said that two Yemeni men on suspicion of links to al-Qaeda network were killed and three were captured during the manhunt carried out by Yemeni security forces during a raid at the men’s hideout northern Sana’a late on Friday.
Two security officers and a woman that was in a nearby house were also wounded in the two-hour exchange of fire, which broke out when security forces broke into a one-storey house in the Rawdah district of the capital.
“The operation is still going on and the security forces are combing the Rawdah suburb to make sure there are no other members of that group” a security officer said.
According to AP sources, the three captured al-Qaeda suspects are Abid al-Thawr, Seyf Mohamed, and Abu Habbabi. Among the killed was Yahya Saleh Al-Mujalli (Abu Seyf), who was killed when he attempted to escape the security forces that surrounded his home.
Yemeni authorities have repeatedly said that it is expanding its operations in chasing al-Qaeda suspects throughout the country, especially in tribal areas where they are thought to be protected by tribesmen.
On another level, Foreign Minister Dr. Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi had said that the government has implemented a number of measures to track possible terrorist networks in the country and bring them to justice. Among those measures was the establishment of thirteen security offices in remote areas to facilitate the mission of the security forces in their manhunt.
On another level, a US government lawyer said that the six U.S. citizens of Yemeni descent alleged to be members of an al Qaeda cell must stay in jail to ensure public safety. This was said at Friday’s third day of hearings to determine whether the accused will be freed on bail or await trial behind bars.
US authorities had said that two other men from Lackawanna, identified as Kamal Derwish and Jaber Elbaneh, are reported to be in Yemen. US authorities believe Derwish was the group’s leader, who encouraged the men to travel to Afghanistan for training.
This comes at a time Yemen expressed its keenness to shake off its reputation as a haven for Muslim militants and has said it was holding 85 people arrested in a manhunt for members of al-Qaeda, blamed by Washington for the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Sanaa on Wednesday dismissed reports that U.S. special forces may launch covert operations in Yemen against militants believed to have fled Afghanistan. It said it would use only its own troops to hunt down al-Qaeda suspects.
Yemen’s parliament last week set up a commission to probe alleged human rights violations by Yemeni security forces in their crackdown on supporters of Saudi-born dissident bin Laden.
Amnesty International has said thousands of people had been detained, including children as young as 12, academics and journalists

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