Four more militants extradited to Yemen [Archives:2003/661/Front Page]

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August 21 2003

Reuters) Sanaa, Aug 18 – Saudi Arabia has extradited to Yemen four suspected militants, including two men who are believed to be linked to last year's attack on the French supertanker Limburg, a Yemeni security official said on Monday.
Both Yemen and Saudi Arabia have witnessed a spate of attacks in the past year which have largely been blamed on Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
The official told Reuters that Yemen had also handed over to Riyadh two Saudis who had been detained for their suspected ties to militant groups inside the kingdom.
“The four Yemenis were in Saudi jails. They include two people who we believe were involved in the attack on the Limburg,” said the official, who declined to be named.
An explosion ripped through the supertanker off the coast of Yemen in 2002, killing a crew member. The attack was also blamed on al Qaeda.
Saudi Arabia and Yemen have promised to step up security cooperation as they battle the militant network, which is also blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Saudi Arabia has arrested some 240 suspects in a hunt for al Qaeda militants since early May, when suicide attacks on compounds housing expatriates killed 35 people, mainly foreigners, in the capital Riyadh.
Yemen has closely cooperated with the U.S. “war on terror” in an effort to rid itself of an image as a stronghold of militant groups, including al Qaeda.
Over the past year, Riyadh has handed over to Yemen four men wanted for suspected links to al Qaeda. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's family is originally from Yemen.
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