Two Al Qaeda operatives surrender

By Nasser Arrabyee 07/06/2010

An Al Qaeda operative surrendered him to the Yemeni authorities in the eastern province of Marib, an official said Monday.

The governor of Marib Naji Al Zaidi, said that Hamza Ali Saleh Al Dhayani, who was in the wanted list as Al Qaeda member, surrendered himself to the local authority in Marib.

Al Dhayani is the second Al Qaeda operative to surrender this week in Marib province where Al Qaeda militants are believed to be hiding.

Ghalib Al Zaidi, who was wanted by security forces as Al Qaeda member, surrender himself to the governor of Marib last Saturday.

Ghalib Al Zaidi is from the same tribe of the governor of Marib.

"The surrenders came as a result of tightening the noose on Al Qaeda militants and the painful blows they received," the governor Al Zaidi said in an official statement.

Marib province, about 250 km east of the capital Sana'a, has been witnessing a remarkable security deployment after Al Qaeda killed two senior government officials in two different operations over the last two weeks.

Last Saturday Al Qaeda militants killed the commander number two in the 315 military units, Mohammed Saleh Al Shayef and three soldiers in the area of Safer where huge gas and oil projects are located.
American trained and supported anti-terror forces have been surrounding the area where the attackers are believed to hiding since early Saturday.

On May 24, 2010, Jaber Al Shabwani, deputy governor of Marib and four of his bodyguards were killed in an air strike, which targeted an Al Qaeda group but mistakenly killed them.

The President Ali Abdullah Saleh later said that Al Shabwani was killed by a "treason" referring to a plot made by Al Qaeda and tribesmen cooperating with them to kill Al Shabwani who was mediating between Al Qaeda and the government.

In an internet statement attributed to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) on Sunday June 6th,2010, Al Qaeda said they deceived the "enemies of Allah" by luring Al Shabwani to them and killed him by the government's fighter jet.

It's worth mentioning that Hamza Al Dhayani was one of 23 Al Qaeda militants who escaped from the Sana'a intelligence prison in February 2006. Five of the fugitives were killed in different hunt down operations, and 16 were either arrested or surrendered. The only remaining two now are Nasser Al Wahayshi, and Qasem Al Raimi who lead with some Saudi militants like Saeed Al Shehri the AQAP.