Suspects in Hashid?Official killed in ambush [Archives:2003/692/Front Page]

By Yemen Times Staff
and News Services
The governor of the southeastern Yemeni province of Shabwa, Ali Ahmad Arrassas, was injured and his brother, an intelligence officer, killed Dec. 4 in a highway ambush.
Police said the governor was traveling to Shabwa from the province of Al-Baidhaa when gunmen opened fire on his car.
They said the governor escaped the apparent assassination bid with arm injuries while his brother, Mersas Ahmad Arrassas, was killed on the spot.
The attack took place near Masuara town on a highway linking Shabwa with Al-Baidhaa, 170 km south of Sanaa.
Medical sources said the governor was immediately taken to a hospital in Al-Baidhaa for surgery, and then brought to Sanaa on a military helicopter for further medical treatment.
Sources close to the governor accused the fundamentalist groups al-Hijrah and Takfeer of being responsible. Although the interior ministry described the attack as a criminal incident, it did not deny information linking it to those extremists.
Other sources said that tribal conflict between the governor and the attackers is the cause. The interior ministry said security people are looking for the suspects.
Tribal sources in the area told Yemen Times that the attackers escaped to Hashid for tribal protection.
It was the second highway killing in two days.On Dec. 2, a man from Aal Jam'an (Al-Jid'an) tribe was killed by military police at a checkpoint on the Sana'a – Marib highway. Sources indicated police shot the man as he did not stop his vehicle, which was allegedly stolen.
The incident intensified the tense relationship between Al-Kureimat tribe and the military police on duty, indicating that it may be a revenge for their colleagues killed by the tribe prior to Eid Al-Fitr.
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