Yemen and Saudi start anti-terror fight:Yemen denies arrest of Riyadh explosion suspect [Archives:2003/643/Local News]

Hassan Al-Zaidi
Official security sources have denied what has been circulated lately in some newspapers concerning the detention of Ali Abdurahman al-Ghamedi who was accused of responsibility for the terrorist explosion in Riyadh City last month.
The news reports said that a suspect was taken into custody in a house in Sana'a last week by an officer affiliated to the Central Security Office.
He was found with no identification card and was then taken to a police station to compare his photo with mug shots distributed to the Yemeni authorities to track down the Riyadh explosion perpetrators.
The Saudi interior minister responded to those reports by saying “I hope that the item will be true.”
The sources said that those news reports started emerging after the announcement of the Yemeni-Saudi cooperation to track down al-Qaeda elements charged of the recent terror explosion in Riyadh.
This comes a few days after confrontations between security forces with elements suspected of planning terrorist attacks took place in Jeddah City in Saudi Arabia. The conflict led to the death of a few men from both sides.
Both Yemen and Saudi Arabia have agreed recently to fight inter-border arms smuggling and terrorism through a security agreement signed last week.
It is also scheduled for the Yemeni-Saudi Coordination Council to hold its major meeting in mid July in Sanaa with the presence of several senior officials from both sides.
Informed sources told the Yemen Times that the local authorities have withdrawn most of weapons from Talha Market in Sadah governorate, in an effort to eliminate possible use of such weaponry. The market is also believed to be a possible hideout for al-Qaeda elements and a place where terrorists buy weapons.
On another level, a two-week ultimatum given by the Yemeni authorities to Abu Asem mediators has elapsed. Abu Asem is one of the number one wanted al-Qaeda suspect by the FBI.
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