Yemen warns against cooperation with escaping Al Qaeda men

By Nasser Arrabyee/18/12/2009

The Yemeni government called upon the citizens to cooperate with security forces for hunting down the Al Qaeda operatives who escaped the Thursday's attacks.

The government also warned from providing any kind of cooperation with the fleeing terrorists, saying any one who cooperates with them will be held responsible and accountable.

That was in a statement released after a meeting held by the country's supreme security committee, which praised the security men as heroes for implementing the Thursday's operations against Al Qaeda.

The Presidents of US and Egypt immediately congratulated the Yemeni President after those successful operations, confirming they would stand with Yemen's unity, security, and stability.

According security sources, the second man in Al Qaeda in Yemen, Qasem Al Raimi, survived the attack on the 8 would-be suicide bombers in Arhab at the far east of Sana'a province at the borders of Mareb and Al Jawf provinces.

Al Raimi and Hezam Mujali and a third man believed to be an Arab, escaped at the last minute before the attack started on the 8 suicide bombers who were in the next door.

About 10 of Al Qaeda elements of those who were killed in the Thursday's attacks on terror hideouts in Abyan , were not Yemenis, the security sources said Friday.

The sources said that analysis of the dead bodies is continuing to know the identities of all those killed in those operations.

The sources confirmed that the leader of Al Qaeda in Abyan, Mohammed Saleh Al Kazimi, was among those who were killed in the attacks on the training camp in Al Majalah area, Al Mahfad, Abyan province, south of the country.

A group of 30 of Al Qaeda fighters were killed in the training camp in Al Majalah according to the official statement.

Independent sources from Abyan, said, however, about 50 people were killed, and 60 were injured including women children. The independent sources said that most of Al Qaeda operatives were living and training in the same area with their women, children, and relatives who support them.

For the operation in Arhab, in which four of the 8 suicide bombers, aged 17-20, were killed and four were arrested, the sources said, the 13 terrorists who were arrested in the city of Sana'a at the same time, were supposed to help the bombers implement their tasks against Yemeni and Western targets. The arrests took place without any clashes, the raids on the house were according to very accurate information about the men.

The sources confirmed that the leader of Al Qaeda in Arhab area, Aref Mujali, brother of Hezam Mujali, was arrested in the operation.

Aref and Hezam Mujali are the sons of Yahya Mujali, an Al Qaeda operative who was killed in his house in clashes with security forces in Al Rawdha area in the city of Sana'a in 2003.

The leading member of Al Qaeda Fawaz Al Rabyee got married to the daughter of Mujali before he was killed in a hunt down operation at an outskirt of the capital Sana'a in 2006.