Yemen and Britain Cooperate to Counter Terrorism [Archives:2001/12/Front Page]

The Minister of the Interior, Hussein Mohammed Arab said that a British official in the counter-terrorism department arrived in Sanaa yesterday to hold talks with Yemeni officials as a part of the international effort to counter terrorism and determine the role Yemen would play in this regard. Mr. Arab added that British officials are now responding to an earlier request from Yemen to Britain, concerning terrorists living in Britain who are charged with involvement in explosions in Yemen, especially Abu Al-Hamza, an Egyptian national. Mr. Arab further said that the interrogation of the British embassy bombers has been completed and that their trial would begin this week. 
Meanwhile, an American delegation from the Counter-Terrorism office at the US State Department is concluding a visit to Yemen. During the visit, both Yemeni and American officials discussed the efforts being made to combat terrorism in the world as well as the investigation of the USS Cole suicide bombing in Aden in October 2000. These visits and the delegations sent to Germany, the US and the UK show that the scope of investigation on the Cole has been expanded to include other countries like Afghanistan, Eritrea, Sudan, Pakistan and Jordan where suspected members of the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army live. This development makes it clear that the trial of the suspects will not start soon due to American insistence that it be postponed so that more information can be collected. 
Yemen Times also learned from reliable sources that two of the Cole suspects, charged with giving fake ID cards to the bombers, were released. The sources added that Murad Al-Sorori, the person instrumental for facilitating the issuing of ID cards to Mohammed Omar Al-Harazi (Abdulrahman Al-Safani), head of the Cole bombing operation, is still in captivity.

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